White Heart of the Thief
by Wild Vivid Imagination
Summary: Not your average High School AU. Japanese teenager Bakura's life is turned upside down after he meets his new classmate Ryou. Suddenly, his past life in Ancient Egypt is the centre of everything, magic and monsters are real, and he finds himself falling in love with Ryou, who is the reincarnation of the girl he loved in his past life, all over again... but Ryou is a boy now.
1. Bakura's Dream

**White Heart of the Thief**

A Yu-Gi-Oh! fanfiction written by Wild Vivid Imagination

**Chapter 1 – Bakura's ****Dream**

_She was standing on the riverside again, like she always did._

"_Thief." She turned around to face him as she spoke softly, sounding a bit surprised, but still delighted. "I didn't think you would come here tonight."_

"_Why wouldn't I?" he replied, a trace of arrogance in his voice as he stepped closer to her, taking her appearance in. She looked so out of place where she stood by the shore of the Nile, with her pale skin and unusual pure white hair clearly showing that she did not originally come from this country._

"_The Pharaoh is hunting for you, isn't he?" she asked, sounding frightened. "I'm so worried about you, Thief. You should go into hiding."_

"_I have nothing to fear, Ruya", he whispered as he moved closer to her and caressed her cheek with his slender dark fingers. "I am the King of Thieves. The Pharaoh and his men will never be able to hurt me... or you." The last two words were added as Ruya raised her petite hand to run her fingers over the big scar on the right side of his face._

"_Why do you care that much for me, Thief...?" she questioned as she pushed a few strands of his hair out of his face. He felt a twinge of nervousness in his heart as he looked into her big brown eyes. "Bakura?" she whispered gently, speaking his name for the first time. Many times he had wanted to tell her this, but fate had always intervened... He leant forwards, so close that their lips almost touched._

"_Ruya, I lo-" He had almost said it, almost confessed his feelings for her, almost given her what would be their first kiss. But then..._

...the alarm clock rang.

Bakura Crawford jolted awake as he spun around in his sleep and hit the floor with a loud thud. He swore loudly as he tried to untangle himself from his blanket while the damned alarm clock still kept ringing and ringing with the same annoying sound.

"Bakura?" The door to his bedroom opened and Pegasus J. Crawford, Bakura's adopted father, peeked in, looking a bit confused. "What are you doing on the floor?"

"Fell", Bakura muttered, still too sleepy to come up with a sarcastic remark, as he finally got up from the floor, threw his blanket to the bed in annoyance, and shut off the alarm clock by slamming his hand down at it. Hard.

Dammit. He had been dreaming about the same thing for the entire summer holidays. He suspected that the dreams were reincarnation dreams, but he wasn't quite sure. Most people didn't get those until they were already old, and some people never even had them. Bakura hadn't expected that he, a teenager in 21st century Japan, would begin having these dreams at seventeen years' age. He needed to ask someone about it.

Pegasus was still standing in the doorway. Bakura glared at him.

"...All right." Pegasus must have noticed his bad temper, because he didn't attempt to question him further. "Breakfast is waiting for you in the kitchen, and I'm leaving now. It's first day of school after all; better be there in time!" He looked at Bakura expectantly. Bakura groaned. He'd forgotten about the fact that summer vacation was over and high school was starting again. Not to mention that Pegasus was going to be his class's form teacher this year.

"Fine. I'll be there", the grumpy seventeen-year-old muttered as he noticed Pegasus's expectant stare. Pegasus grinned one of his typical flamboyant grins.

"Good, good! Wouldn't want you to skip school on your first day, after all!" He turned on his heel and strode out of Bakura's room, silvery hair billowing behind him. Bakura frowned. He wished for Pegasus to just cut his hair already. Straight hair reaching below his shoulders made him look even more girly than he already did, as if that wasn't enough. Bakura just hoped that Pegasus wouldn't wear his current red costume for every day this year. It was bound to get embarrassing for Bakura.

He finally gathered enough energy to make his way to the bathroom. As he took a look at his face in the mirror, he felt a bit guilty for mentally complaining about how not-manly Pegasus looked. Bakura himself had had long white hair that had reached far below his shoulders before he had finally decided to cut it when the summer holidays began. Now, it was still long, but didn't quite reach his shoulders. It was more messy than Pegasus's hair, though. Much, much messier. It currently looked pretty much like a crow's nest. Bakura sighed, picked up a hairbrush and began his work. He hoped that nobody would ever find out that he spent almost as much time fixing his hair as a stereotypical girl.

Several minutes later, Bakura had finally managed to get his hair back under control, with the exception of two extensions of hair that stood out on the top of his head, looking a bit like horns. They had always been like that, though, so Bakura ignored it and finally headed for the kitchen to eat his breakfast. He wondered if he should ask Pegasus about reincarnation dreams. Maybe he'd know. Bakura opened the door to the kitchen. The sight that met him there was not quite what he had expected.

The frying pan containing the bacon Pegasus made for him was on fire. More exactly, it was on fire and there was another teenager standing in his kitchen, one who had tanned skin and gravity-defying spiky blonde hair, cackling maniacally as he watched Bakura's breakfast burn to ashes. This would probably have frightened just about anyone else, but luckily, Bakura was used to situations like these.

"Mariku, what are you doing with my breakfast? " he asked calmly, but with a venomous undertone in his voice. Mariku Khayal turned his head towards Bakura and grinned even wider with that slightly psychotic smile of his.

"I'm testing the flammability of fat", he explained, sounding as if it was a natural thing to do first thing in the morning; to sneak into your best friend's house and set his breakfast on fire. Sometimes Bakura wondered why he even associated with Mariku.

"...really?" he finally asked, not knowing if he really even wanted to hear the answer.

"Yup", the Egyptian teen stated, his face becoming more thoughtful as he eyed Bakura. "We're supposed to be in school in fifteen minutes, you know that, right?" Bakura nodded, slowly, not feeling very trusting right now. Mariku's smirk returned. "You're still wearing your pyjamas, have you noticed?"

Bakura swore and ran off to find his school uniform.

–

Eight and a half minutes later, Bakura and Mariku spurted into the school yard of Domino High School, completely out of breath. Bakura was surprised that it was possible to run over a kilometre non-stop at their speed.

"I would have had time to eat breakfast", he muttered in annoyance, but Mariku just smirked at him again. "By the way, can you see Atemu anywhere? There's something I'd like to tell him." Bakura wanted to inform his other friend of the dreams he'd been having and confirm his suspicions. Atemu had a tendency to be more serious and professional about these things than Mariku.

"Just look for star-fish shaped tricoloured hair and you'll find him", Mariku added in a mock attempt to be helpful.

"You know, I think he's the only person in the school with more crazy hair than you", Bakura told his friend as he scanned the crowd until he saw something black tipped with crimson and blond. "I can see him." The two of them hurried over to the third member of their group.

"We meet again, Atemu!" Mariku shouted as he greeted the multi-colour-haired teen by attempting to tackle him to the ground, but the other was quicker and leapt to the side before Mariku had the chance to assault him.

"Hello, Mariku", Atemu Namonaki greeted the teenager lying in a heap on the ground before he turned to the now approaching Bakura. "and hello, Bakura. I see you've gained some colour over the summer."

"Oh. Yes, that's right." Bakura smirked. He and Atemu had made a bet before summer started; a bet about who could tan their skin more over the summer. Bakura had always been an almost unnatural shade of pale, but he had found that when he really tried, he could actually put on some colour. Atemu, who was also rather pale but not as pale as Bakura in his natural state, had clearly not spent as much time in the sun. Ha. Now he was in debt to Bakura. "What about you, then? Did you spend too much time indoors playing computer games?" he mocked. Atemu just glared at him.

"None of your business."

"Ooh, maybe Atemu has a girlfriend~" Mariku teased as he got to his feet again. Atemu blushed.

"As a matter of fact, I've been spending time with Yuugi Mutou! You know, the boy in our class whose grandfather owns a game shop." He still looked red as he explained this. Bakura thought the name sounded familiar, but couldn't quite bring himself to remember exactly who it was. Mariku's eyes widened.

"The midget?!" he blurted out. Those words triggered Bakura's memories. Yuugi Mutou, or "the midget" as Mariku had not so affectionately nicknamed him because of his short height, was one of the labelled "nerds" of the school, and Bakura and Mariku, both of them having a tendency to get rather mean at times, had actually spent a lot of time teasing him last year. "Why were you hanging out with him?"

"Don't call him that!" Atemu blurted out angrily. "He's actually really nice and really wanted to be friends with me! He even dyed his hair to make it match mine! If I ever see you two bullying him again-"

"He dyed his hair to look like yours?!" Mariku interrupted him, sounding very shocked. "You're kidding!" But as he said that, a small shape made his way through the crowd towards them. It was Yuugi Mutou, with his new hairstyle, matching Atemu's almost completely. He looked even more shy than usual as he approached them.

"Um... Hello, Atemu." Yuugi looked frightened and kept casting glances at Mariku and Bakura as he greeted Atemu.

"Hello, Yuugi." Atemu smiled; a genuine smile, not one of his usual rude smirks. Mariku kept his eyes moving from Atemu's hair to Yuugi's hair, looking bewildered.

"You've been pushed down to the bronze place, Mariku", Bakura said with a grin. He then remembered why he'd wanted to seek out Atemu in the first place. "Oh, Atemu. I have something I need to tell you."

"Really? What is it?" Atemu looked at him curiously.

"I've been having strange dreams", Bakura stated simply. Yuugi's eyes widened, and the small teenager looked very surprised.

"Oh, could it perhaps be-"

"Yuugi, I think you should leave us alone for now", Atemu interrupted him. "Go reserve a seat in class for me, perhaps?" Yuugi looked a bit insulted at first, but then he smiled.

"Sure!" he said excitedly and dashed off towards the school's entrance. Atemu's facial expression immediately became very serious as he turned to face Bakura.

"Your dreams... Are they realistic? Do you always have the same role in these dreams? Do they feel familiar? That's how they first felt for Mariku."

"Ooh, you think Bakura's been having reincarnation dreams?" Mariku suddenly looked very interested. Bakura understood that. Mariku had been having reincarnation dreams since he was a child, which was very unusual since most people nowadays didn't start remembering details from their past lives before they grew old, so Bakura wasn't surprised that Mariku was excited to see someone else starting to have them. Atemu nodded, and Bakura suddenly found both his friends staring at him expectantly.

"I was a thief", he began, unsure how to put his dreams down into words. He was beginning to regret ever mentioning the dreams. "The King of Thieves, actually. The very best you could find in all of Ancient Egypt." Mariku looked very interested now.

"Ancient Egypt? I was from Ancient Egypt too, in my past life! I was an assassin." He smirked and looked positively insane. Atemu just shook his head.

"Both of you were Egyptian criminals? Why am I not surprised?" He looked at his two friends. "I wish I could have reincarnation dreams too. I want to know who I used to be." The three of them started to subconsciously head for the school's entrance while still in the middle of the conversation.

"It's not as wonderful as you think. It's bothersome", Bakura muttered as he swung the school's door open. "In my dreams, there's... a girl." Mariku and Atemu both turned to look at him in surprise at this. Mariku gained a perverted smile.

"A girl? Is she pretty?" he inquired. "How old?" Bakura didn't really want to continue this conversation, but he couldn't help himself. Talking about her felt nice. It made him want to smile, which was actually rather unusual because he usually was in a foul mood.

"She's beautiful. She's about sixteen or seventeen, so she's a few years younger than myself as I'm about twenty as my dream self. Her name's Ruya", he told his friends as they walked down the corridor.

"Ruya? That's an Arabic name", Mariku told him. "It means 'vision' or 'sight'." Bakura was glad to have a friend who knew a foreign language. Mariku knew Arabic because his parents had been from Egypt. Bakura, who only knew Japanese and a little English, was rather jealous.

"What was she to you, in your past life?" Atemu asked. It was interesting, how all three of them had somehow become completely convinced that Bakura's dreams were actually about his past life. But then again, Mariku had been having these dreams since he was very young and Atemu held a deep belief in magic.

"I was in love with her", Bakura admitted. "and I think she was in love with me too. It was nothing like dating girls in high school. It was much deeper than that."

"You? In love?" Atemu looked genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. What's so surprising about that?" Bakura asked sourly.

"Oh, nothing. Just considering the fact that you have all the girls in the school fawning over you, but whenever you have a girlfriend, she always breaks up with you within two weeks", Atemu said.

"What Atemu is trying to say, is that you're a complete bastard!" Mariku added with a grin. Bakura just glared at him, but didn't attempt to debate. What Atemu had said was true, after all. He wasn't good with girls, at all. He might be handsome on the outside, but he wasn't a kind person and always ended up disappointing any poor girl who tried to get to know him better.

"Ruya is... was different, though", Bakura mused. "She was wonderful... I wish I could meet her again."

"Aww, Bakura's in lo-ove!" Mariku teased in a sing-song voice. "Too bad! She's been dead for several millennia!"

"Don't remind me!" Bakura shouted, earning a few shocked looks from people around them in the corridor. "She's probably reincarnated! If she truly is my soul-mate in the way I think she was, I'll meet her again, one day!" He didn't know what had got into him; what made him snap at his best friend like that, but Mariku and Atemu both stared at him in shock.

"I didn't know you were the sentimental type, Bakura", Atemu finally stated and stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed that they were standing in front of the door to their classroom.

"Neither did I", Bakura muttered as the three of them walked into the classroom, about to begin their second year in high school whether they liked it or not.

* * *

A/N: Hi, everyone, and welcome to White Heart of the Thief! I've spent half a year working on this fanfiction, my first in the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom, and I sincerely hope everyone will enjoy it! Now, I'm the kind of person who absolutely LOVES writing endless Author's Notes, so please bear with me. At the end of every chapter, there'll be a note like this, but feel free to skip 'em if you don't care much for background info…

I originally started this fic on a whim: I wanted to write an High School AU, because everyone has to write one of those in their fanfiction career sometimes. I had this idea of it being set in a universe where having dreams of your past lives is something unusual but still very very real. It went well in the beginning, but I realised I didn't like what I was doing. Then I suddenly decided to throw all the clichés out of the window and be a bit more original. Of course, that ended in something that really doesn't differ THAT much from the original Yu-Gi-Oh! universe… except for the slash. There will be slash. Pretty much of it too. And perhaps some inconsistencies, because I'm not used to writing novels with 100.000+ words… My brain becomes all messed up… But more on that later.

Now, a bit on the characters. Bakura Crawford, our dear sarcastic and rude main character, is based off Yami Bakura a.k.a. the Spirit of the Millennium Ring AND Thief King Bakura from the real Yu-Gi-Oh! series, as everyone's probably figured out already. He's basically a mash-up of the two of them (and I'm one of those weird people who see the two of them as two completely different characters). Pegasus J. Crawford is basically the same person as in the original universe. Why did I make him Bakura's dad? Well, as I said I'm trying to be original, and I've never seen anyone try that before… Also, he's a teacher. I think Pegasus would make a wonderful, silly teacher. Bakura's totally embarrassed, of course… What teenager wants a parent to be their teacher? Another reason I picked Pegasus to be Bakura's father is to give him a good last name. Everyone always uses "Touzoku" as Bakura's last name in fics like these, but since that's just the Japanese word for Thief, I figured I'd rather make him related to another canon character. Pegasus just happened to be my choice… I'll talk more about Bakura's classmates in my next note.

And Ruya? I already said that this fic would be slash, so I wonder how many of you are going: "WTF is that girl doing here?!" But come on: white hair, pale skin, brown eyes. And this is a reincarnation fic. If you know anything about Yu-Gi-Oh!, it should be pretty clear to you that Ruya is NOT some character I just made up. (I picked out that name for her though… I like it. It's cute.)

Stuff I loved writing in this chapter: The scene where Bakura's dream ended. That was fun. Oh, and Mariku setting Bakura's breakfast on fire. And just Mariku in general. Gotta love the crazy ones.


	2. The Shiromune Twins

Yay! Here's the second chapter! Thank you for all for the nice reviews, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too! ^^

* * *

**Chapter 2 – The Shiromune Twins**

When Bakura stepped into the classroom, he remembered exactly why he hadn't missed school at all during the summer holidays. The entire classroom was full of noise; everyone was screaming and arguing. Bakura felt so annoyed at his classmates and wished that he had just decided to stay at home for the day. Atemu, on the other hand, was already running towards Yuugi, who had taken a seat by the window. Mariku looked on in disgust as their friend sat down beside the shorter boy.

"Great. He's abandoning us, his best friends, for the midget! What has the world come to?" He turned to face Bakura, staring at him dramatically.

"Let's just go sit down, shall we?" Bakura muttered, not feeling like arguing with Mariku. He could understand Atemu rather well. Bakura had such a negative attitude and Mariku was just so weird that it wasn't strange at all to see Atemu want to make contact with other people. Bakura pulled Mariku with him to a pair of seats in the back of the class and forced his friend down into the chair before sitting down on his left side. "Now, sit still."

"Oh, so you two showed up too?" a voice to Bakura's left said. Bakura turned his head to find Seto Kaiba observing him. Kaiba was a tall boy with short brown hair and blue eyes, a pompous jerk, and also, unfortunately, Atemu's cousin. "Who's that my cousin is talking to?"

"Yuugi Mutou. His grandfather owns a game shop, apparently", Bakura said, and found himself regretting it immediately when he saw the gleam in Kaiba's eyes. Just like his cousin, Kaiba was utterly obsessed with all kinds of games and had a very competitive spirit. Atemu used to tell Bakura and Mariku stories about all the things he and Kaiba did when they were kids to prove that they were better at games than the other. Madness, Bakura thought. His thoughts were interrupted when Mariku poked him on his right cheek. "Ouch!"

"Hey. Bakura. Look. Who's that?" Mariku's head tilted to the right, and Bakura turned his gaze to where Mariku was looking. There was a boy sitting by the window on his own; the seat next to him was empty. He looked a bit like Mariku, actually, but he was smaller and looked very feminine. His blonde hair was not spiked; instead it was long and straight; it reached all the way down to his shoulders. His skin was tanned, just like Mariku's, but his eyes were an unusual lavender colour, unlike Mariku's ice blue. He also wore golden jewellery like earrings and bracelets and a lot of black make-up, Bakura noted; it made him look like some kind of mix between sad and threatening. The boy was gazing out of the window, lost in thought. Bakura finally remembered his name.

"That's Malik Ishtar. He's from Egypt. He first began here at Domino High a few weeks before the summer holidays began. You wouldn't know about that, though."

"That happened while I was in hospital, then?" Mariku asked, his tone a bit more serious than usual. Bakura nodded. Mariku had been in the hospital for the last few weeks of the last school year, but he had never told anyone why, so Bakura hadn't asked. "He's from Egypt too?" Mariku looked genuinely happy when he said that; Bakura wasn't sure he had seen such a genuine smile on Mariku's face for years.

"Yes", he replied. The smile disappeared and became a smirk as Mariku kept staring at the other Egyptian.

"He's hot. I want to date him", Mariku finally stated, much to Bakura's surprise. Bakura was shocked to see his best friend showing previously unseen homosexual tendencies, but quickly came to the conclusion that Malik looked so much like a girl that it probably didn't matter to Mariku anyway. He was even more shocked when Mariku actually left his seat and ran over to sit down in the empty seat beside Malik instead. Malik turned to look at Mariku in surprise, and didn't look very pleased at all to have a complete stranger sitting beside him. Bakura sighed.

"Hey! Crawford! Does he sell-" Kaiba began, still talking about Yuugi's grandfather for some reason, but he was interrupted when Pegasus marched into the class, slamming the door shut.

"Good morning, class!" He strode over to the blackboard. "My name is Pegasus J. Crawford, and I will be your teacher this year. Please call me Pegasus."

"Hello Pegasus", the students spoke monotonously. Pegasus didn't seem to mind that. Instead he took a seat behind the desk and brought out a paper.

"All right! I've got to make sure everyone's here first!" he said. "Let's go in alphabetical order by surname. Aoi, Kisara?"

"Here", the shy girl with the sea-blue hair sitting in front of Kaiba mumbled.

"Crawford, Bakura? And don't answer me, my boy, because I can see you hiding at the very back of the class!" Everyone's attention turned to Bakura, making him feel annoyed.

"Yeah, hi everyone, nice to see you, let's just get on with it", Bakura said in a sarcastic tone and glared at Pegasus for turning everyone's attention to him. Pegasus seemed to notice Bakura's annoyance and moved on.

"Honda, Hiroto?" Pegasus continued. A brown haired boy with a strange spike in his hair confirmed his presence. "Ishtar, Malik?"

"He's right here!" Mariku shouted and pointed at Malik. Everyone's eyes turned towards the two Egyptians. Malik looked embarrassed, but Pegasus didn't seem to mind.

"Jonouchi, Katsuya?"

"Right here!" the boy with dirty blond hair sitting beside Honda stated cockily. Bakura noticed Kaiba glaring at Jonouchi. The two of them were like dog and cat; they had never got along.

"Kaiba, Seto?"

"Here."

"Kawai, Shizuka?" The ginger girl beside Kisara raised her hand. Bakura knew that she was Jonouchi's twin sister, but they had different surnames because their parents were divorced and they lived with different parents. He wasn't sure how he knew about that, though. He didn't usually care about other students' personal lives. "Khayal, Mariku?"

"Right here!" Mariku almost jumped out of his seat, and Bakura sighed. Such a show-off. And now said show-off had everyone's attention for the second time in a few minutes. Malik looked like he wanted to disappear from the planet's surface.

"I can hear you. Kujaku, Mai?" Pegasus went on as if nothing had happened. The girl with the long blonde hair sitting at the front of the class waved and gave a flirty wink. Bakura had never really liked her all that much. She was too pushy. "Mazaki, Anzu?" The brown haired girl beside Mai smiled and waved. Bakura didn't like her all that much either, but she was nicer than Mai. "Mutou, Yuugi?"

"Here", Yuugi mumbled shyly from his place beside Atemu.

"Namonaki, Atemu?" Atemu nodded and shifted slightly beside Yuugi to get Pegasus's attention.

"Nosaka, Miho?" A girl with light-blue, almost lavender-coloured hair, with her hair in a yellow ribbon, sitting alone in the pair of seats in front of Bakura, grinned excitedly and waved her hands. Bakura noticed that he and the girl were the only ones who weren't sitting beside anyone. He hoped that he wouldn't have to move seats to have someone to sit beside. He didn't like Miho; he'd once tried to date her but it hadn't worked out so he had dumped her. She, however, had spent a whole month clinging to him and trying to get him to change his mind.

"Otogi, Ryuuji?" The boy sitting beside Kaiba, the one with long black hair in a ponytail and green eyes, raised his hand.

"I'm right here, sir." he said. Bakura had never liked Otogi either. The boy was too damn posh and annoying. He was also very popular with the girls. That was extra annoying. Finally, Pegasus had come to the end of the list. Pegasus smiled and set his list down.

"Anyway! Now that I've seen that you're all here, I have a very exciting piece of news for you!" the teacher exclaimed and clapped his hands together. The class observed him quietly. Bakura wondered what news Pegasus was talking about. "There will be two new students in your class this year." This made everyone start cheering.

"Tell us their names!"

"They're twins, actually, and their surname is Shiromune", Pegasus said. "I'll let you meet them for yourself." He walked over to open the door. "Please come inside. Why don't you come first?" Bakura wasn't really as excited as everyone else appeared to be. He had never liked meeting new people.

A girl entered the classroom, her steps so light that she almost appeared to be bouncing. She had light blue hair tied up in long twin tails with pink ribbons. Her big eyes were a bright green colour, and she seemed to be shimmering with a positive attitude. Bakura had never liked the girls' school uniform, but he had to admit that this girl pulled off the pink piece of clothing rather well. All this made him want to like her, maybe even make an attempt at dating her, but something made him not want to. There was a sense of foreboding, of danger; as if something bad was going to happen.

"Why don't you introduce yourself?" Pegasus's voice brought Bakura out of his train of thoughts and back into reality. The girl smiled sweetly.

"Of course, Mister Crawford!" She turned to face the class. "Nice to meet you all! I'm Amane Shiromune! I'm sixteen years old, and my twin and I just moved here from Tokyo! My interests are all kinds of dancing and singing, and of course hanging out with friends, so I'm sure we'll get along really well!" She was a good speaker, Bakura had to admit. She had instantly charmed almost everyone in the class, and several boys were already glaring at each other, as if telling the others to better not make a move on her, or else...

"Wonderful!" Pegasus smiled, clearly already liking her. "You can go sit beside Miss Nosaka right there, Miss Shiromune." Miho waved her hands excitedly and Amane headed over to sit down beside her, right in front of Bakura. Bakura felt an instant desire to get up and run away. Instead, he just glared at the back of Amane's head. For some reason, he was feeling uneasy... Meanwhile, Pegasus had gone to fetch the other Shiromune twin. "Come on, you can come inside now. There's nothing to be worried about", Bakura heard Pegasus's voice and guessed that the other twin was really shy. He took his eyes off Amane's ribbons for a while to have a look at her sibling. He immediately regretted it and didn't regret it at the very same time.

Once Bakura had laid eyes on the new student's face, he could no longer look away. He observed that beautiful hair even lighter than Amane's, flowing and completely snow white and reaching past the shoulders; he felt an immediate need to run his fingers through it. He watched the pale skin, which looked like it hadn't been touched by the sun for ages, and immediately knew he wanted to hold those beautiful hands in his own. He looked into the big brown eyes and found himself losing all sense of time and space. And so, he suddenly remembered the first time clearly...

"_Ruya, I love you." He pressed his lips against hers lightly, not really knowing how else to display his feelings. He had, after all, never kissed anyone else. She pulled back, looking surprised. "Is something wrong, Ruya?" he asked, filled with sudden worry. What if she didn't feel the same? He was a damned criminal after all; a thief, a murderer, a danger. But Ruya just smiled at him._

"_I've been waiting for you to say that for a very long time, Thief King Bakura." She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around him. "When we first met, I knew that we were bound to each other."_

"_I'm glad to hear that", Bakura murmured as he held her in his arms, for once not caring about anything else than the one he loved. "Stay with me, Ruya."_

"_I will. Until death and beyond."_

The vision ended, and Bakura was thrown back from Ancient Egypt into modern times, still staring into the new student's eyes, spell-bound. He saw the nervousness in those eyes, and knew that they were familiar. He knew that it was Ruya, or more exactly, her reincarnation. He had known ever since the bearer of this new-yet-old face had stepped into the room. He couldn't stop staring, and wondered briefly if his classmates had noticed his odd behaviour. He then heard Ruya's reincarnation speak for the first time, with a soft sweet voice, sounding really shy and nervous.

"H-hello. I'm Ryou Shiromune." So Ruya's name was Ryou in this time period... "You've already met my sister, Amane... I-I'm her younger twin. I r-really like reading, drawing and playing games..." Bakura was in seventh heaven by now, completely lost to the world around him. He didn't have many memories from his previous life, but now that Ruya had returned to him, his feelings for her had returned too, more powerful than he had ever thought they were. Was this what love felt like? He didn't know, but he knew that he wanted to run up to her and hold her, to tell her that he still remembered her...

But as Bakura tore his gaze away from those captivating brown eyes, he realized that something was off. Still deeply caught in his euphoria, he couldn't quite place what was wrong, though. He barely caught Pegasus's voice.

"You can sit beside Bakura Crawford. There, at the back of the class."

Bakura gave a silent 'thank you' to Mariku's sudden lust after Malik and to the fact that Malik was too asocial to have a friend sitting beside him. Without those factors, after all, Ruya- no, _Ryou_, he corrected himself, wouldn't be approaching him to sit beside him right now...

When Ryou sat down beside him, whispering a shy 'hello', Bakura realised two things at the same time. Two things that both lead him to the same conclusion. A conclusion which hit him with such force that it shocked him out of his euphoric state, changing his joy to utter disbelief in one millisecond.

One. The second Shiromune twin wasn't wearing the same school uniform as Amane. Amane had been wearing a pink uniform with a skirt. Her sibling was dressed in blue, and the uniform had trousers. In other words, it looked exactly like his own.

Two. Ryou was not necessarily a girl's name.

Bakura stared at the person sitting beside him, not knowing what to think now. Amane Shiromune's brother stared back at him, seemingly worried that he had done something wrong.

"Are you all right?" Ryou asked softly, his voice gentle and concerned as he shook Bakura's shoulder. Bakura blinked in confusion. Bakura's past self had been in love with Ruya. Bakura himself was in love with the memory of Ruya. Ryou was Ruya's reincarnation. But Ryou Shiromune was a boy.

Bakura Crawford fainted.

* * *

A/N: Hello again! So, in this Author's Note I think I promised to talk about Bakura's classmates. Let's start with the most important ones: his friends Mariku Khayal and Atemu Namonaki.

Atemu is based off Yami Yuugi a.k.a. the Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle, or Pharaoh Atem like his real name is. (Yeah, Yami Yuugi and Atem are the same character. Deal with it!) I spelled his name like the Japanese would probably pronounce it. His last name, Namonaki, literally means "Nameless". As in "Nameless Pharaoh"! Get it? Haha, I'm so stupid and I have a dumb sense of humour… Everybody always uses "Sennen" ("Millennium") for his last name, and I just named him Namonaki because I could. More unique at least. I think I've seen somebody else use it too, though…

Mariku Khayal is obviously based of Yami Marik/Malik/Mariku, however you spell it (or maybe you just call him Melvin…). His last name is the Arabic word for "shadow", which I found fitting for a character based off a character who is actually just another character's personality disorder. (Okay, that sounds weird…) So Yami Malik is Malik Ishtar's shadow, in a way, and that's how I made up Mariku's last name. Bakura, Mariku and Atemu are the crazy trio of the class, naturally.

Moving on to the others. Unlike many High School AU's, who ignore everyone except the main characters, I wanted to introduce all of Bakura's classmates. Making the atmosphere more realistic. Yuugi Mutou is of course the original Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonist. Unfortunately he gets a bit overshadowed by the other characters in this story because he's such a quiet guy. He lives in a game shop with his grandpa, just like in Yu-Gi-Oh! and also has a similar unlikely friendship with Atemu. Seto Kaiba is still the same jerk as in canon, and also Atemu's cousin, like in the Ancient Egypt arc of canon. Malik Ishtar is also still the same Egyptian guy-who-looks-like-a-girl with a tragic past, except that he doesn't have Multiple Personality Disorder in this universe… Instead, Mariku gets to be his own person… who has the hots for Malik. Because I like Bronzeshipping, no matter how weird it is… Kisara Aoi is Kisara from the Ancient Egypt arc. (Aoi means blue.) Hiroto Honda is, well, everyone SHOULD know Honda, or else I'll be worried. Same with Katsuya Jonouchi. Shizuka Kawai is his sister. (Little sister in canon, twin sister in this story for the sake of getting more girls in the class…) Mai Kujaku is still badass (and deaged because I need girls). And Anzu Mazaki is NOT going to be an antagonist. NEVER. Anzu-bashing is the biggest, most annoying cliché in this fandom. She's not that bad, really... Miho Nosaka is that girl from the Season Zero Anime. Ryuuji Otogi, you should know. (HINT: IT'S DUKE DEVLIN!) A variable cast, with some popular people, some nerds and some jokers, just like in a real school (though it's never really made clear who's part of what group… silly me).

Then, Amane and Ryou Shiromune. Based off Amane Bakura (who was dead in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! but I revived her and made up what she looks like, shh) and Ryou Bakura a.k.a the cutest boy ever (according to me, at least. Shh, I know he looks like a girl.). Changed their last name because it sounds stupid when there's one Bakura (first name) and then two more Bakuras (last name). Shiromune means "white heart" or something similar to that. (Guess where I got the title of the story from?) So, the two new students. Okay, I admit that the "new student" thing is a bit cliché, but I didn't want Bakura to have met Ryou before he started having dreams…

I loved, loved, LOVED writing that final scene, when Bakura realises that Ryou is a boy. It made my mum laugh. I'm so proud of myself.


	3. First Day

...and here's the third chapter! Please enjoy and leave a review when you're done~

* * *

**Chapter 3 – First Day**

Mariku Khayal was a bit surprised when he saw his best friend lose consciousness and fall into the arms of the new student. He certainly hadn't noticed anything wrong with Bakura earlier in the morning. Perhaps it was from the lack of breakfast. Although Bakura wasn't the kind of person who was sensitive about lack of food, even though he had an almost unnatural obsession with meat. Seriously. Bakura ate way too much meat. Mariku remembered that time when he had invited Bakura home for dinner. That had been a catastrophe, since Mariku's older brother Rishid was a vegetarian and he had made vegetarian food for the both of them. Mariku had never seen Bakura look so disappointed. Oh. He was doing a mind-rant again, wasn't he? Where had he been? Oh, that's right. Bakura had just fainted.

The new student, Shiromune, looked horrified when Bakura's limp body fell against him. Everyone else just stared, and one of the girls screamed. Pegasus was the only one except Mariku and Atemu who actually reacted. As Mariku and Atemu leapt out of their seats, Pegasus had already spurted forward to check his son's pulse.

"He's just fainted", Pegasus assured the startled Ryou Shiromune. "Bakura? Are you all right?" He shook the white-haired teen gently. Mariku walked over to Pegasus.

"I can take him to the school nurse", he told Pegasus and gave the teacher his best 'proper student' face. Pegasus looked a bit suspicious, but nodded. Mariku was rather surprised at that. Pegasus did, after all, know him well because Mariku was his son's best friend.

"All right." He lifted Bakura's unconscious form out of Shiromune's arms and passed him over to Mariku, who picked the other student up into his arms and held him bridal-style as he headed for the door. "But I want someone responsible to go with you." Mariku winced. Ouch. "Ishtar, you can go." Mariku smirked inwardly. Perfect. Malik got up, albeit reluctantly, and followed Mariku to the door. At least he had got the perfect company, Mariku thought as his recent object of affection opened the door for him. When Atemu stared at him suspiciously, Mariku just winked and disappeared out of the classroom.

As soon as they'd got out of hearing range from the classroom, Mariku put Bakura down on the closest bench.

"I thought you were supposed to bring him to the nurse." It was the first time Mariku heard Malik speak. Malik's voice wasn't at all like Mariku had imagined it. For some reason, because Malik looked so feminine, Mariku had imagined his voice to be sweet and soft, but as a matter of fact, he sounded rather obnoxious and cold. A minor disappointment, but it was all right.

"He'll be fine", Mariku replied and started poking Bakura's right cheek in the way he always did when he tried to get the other's attention. His friend groaned, and crimson eyes snapped open to stare widely at Mariku. "Hey. Bakura. Do you want to go to the nurse's office?"

"...No", Bakura muttered and blinked in confusion. Mariku gave Malik a told-you-so look. "...Don't like her. What-" His eyes widened. "Wu-what happened?"

"You lost consciousness in the middle of the classroom", Malik explained. Bakura stared at him, clearly not expecting Malik to be there.

"Was it because of the breakfast?" Mariku asked. He didn't think it was, but better make sure. Bakura looked at him in confusion. "You know? How you didn't get to eat anything this morning because I set the bacon on fire?" Malik gave him a weird look. Mariku ignored it.

"...No... That wasn't it..." Bakura rubbed his head. "It was something else. I'm just tired." He looked a bit flustered and uncomfortable as he said it, so Mariku got suspicious immediately. But he didn't question Bakura. After all, Bakura had never asked Mariku about his hospitalisation, so he might as well leave Bakura alone now in return. He held out his hand and pulled Bakura to his feet.

"Can you stand?"

"You're being gentle with me. Why are you doing that?" Bakura's eyes narrowed.

"You just fainted in class", Mariku dead-panned.

"That's true", Bakura agreed. Mariku looked at him, seeing that he seemed to be all right now, and asked him:

"Do you want to go back?" Bakura struggled loose from Mariku's grip.

"I'll go to the bathroom first. I need some water." He hurried off down the corridor. "I can make it on my own!" he shouted when he saw that Mariku was about to follow him. Mariku was left standing in the middle of the corridor with Malik. An awkward silence occurred.

"So... Are you a model student?" Mariku asked in an attempt to start a conversation.

"Not really. How so?" Malik asked with raised eyebrows. Mariku smirked. This was his chance.

"Want to skip class with me?" he asked and gave Malik a suggestive look.

"No." Malik glared at him and walked back to the classroom. Mariku stared after him for a moment, before sighing, muttering an Arabic curse to himself, and following him. Damn that handsome boy.

–

Bakura was washing his face. The cold water effectively helped him to wake up, and his head felt much clearer now than right after waking up. He still felt a bit disorientated, but he was starting to feel a bit better. He took a deep breath and stared at his reflection in the mirror. He didn't know what to think. Ryou Shiromune had just made his life a whole lot more complicated. Bakura had been in love with Ruya, but now he just felt confused. He'd never had any kind of feelings for a boy before, but when he'd seen Ryou, he'd been overwhelmed. Bakura sighed. He'd have to go back to class or else Pegasus would get worried. But that would mean that he had to sit next to Ryou. And if he survived this day, he'd still have to survive every day for the rest of the school year sitting next to the reincarnation of his past love...

After ten minutes, Bakura had finally gathered up enough courage to return to class. When he stepped into the class, Pegasus looked delighted to see him.

"Ah! You're okay, Bakura! Now, will you join us for the Maths lesson?" Bakura muttered something unintelligible back and went back to his seat. He forced himself into not looking at the boy sitting right next to him. It worked. For about half of the Maths lesson. While Pegasus was showing something on the blackboard, Bakura felt a light nudge on his shoulder.

"Bakura Crawford, wasn't it?" Ryou Shiromune asked. Bakura turned to look at him out of reflex. It took him all of his self control to remain in a relatively normal state despite having those big brown eyes gazing into his very soul. Bakura nodded curtly. "Are you all right?" Ryou pined on. "Your face looks red. Do you have a fever?" He reached out his hand to touch Bakura's forehead, but Bakura had a feeling that Ryou's fingers against his bare skin wouldn't improve his condition at all. Instead, it would probably do the complete opposite. But Ryou wouldn't know that. He was only being helpful.

So Bakura did what he thought was best. He leant backwards to get away. And in the process, toppled his chair over and landed on the floor with a bang that made everyone in the classroom jump in fright. Some girl screamed.

"Did Bakura faint again?!"

"I did not!" Bakura shouted back, feeling his face turn even more red than it already was. Pegasus looked confused as Bakura put his chair back into position and sat down again. Bakura heard Mariku cackle at his agony somewhere on the right, but he couldn't look over there to glare at him, because Ryou was seated on his right side and if he looked at Ryou again this day was bound to get even more embarrassing than it already had been. He was also hungry from lack of breakfast.

Bakura couldn't wait for lunch break.

–

It was lunch time. However, Ryou Shiromune didn't know where the school restaurant was. He attempted to make his way down the corridor full of people, but he didn't know where to go and felt a bit frightened. He was going to ask Amane if they could go together, but he saw her standing with three other girls, giggling over something. So she had already found friends. Ryou felt a bit jealous. Before they had moved to Domino from Tokyo, he and his sister had been inseparable. But now, his sister seemed to have lost interest in him. It made Ryou feel lonely. He scanned the crowd for someone familiar and suddenly saw the only student in the school with hair as white as his own. Bakura Crawford (what an exotic name...), the boy he sat beside in class. Ryou hurried over to him.

"Excuse me!" he said when he reached the taller student. "I'm lost. I don't know where the school restaurant is." Bakura turned to look at him in surprise. He remained silent for a moment, but then he finally muttered something.

"Follow me." He started walking down the corridor at a fast pace and Ryou had to start running to keep up with him. They walked beside each other in complete silence, and Ryou was beginning to feel awkward. He wanted to ask the other if he was feeling better now, but he didn't dare to, considering that Bakura had fallen off his chair the last time. Ryou wondered why that had happened. Before he could come up with anything to say, they were already standing in the queue to get food.

"So..." Ryou shifted on his feet, feeling even more introvert than usual with Bakura's crimson eyes observing every move he made. "It's nice to meet you..." He almost started stammering as he spoke, and his mouth felt dry. Bakura looked at him, his expression very serious. Ryou still thought he could see a little fondness in Bakura's eyes, but he wasn't sure.

"The same", Bakura finally replied. Then they were silent again. Ryou fidgeted uncomfortably and didn't say anything more.

–

Yuugi Mutou took a seat at an empty table with six seats and was glad to see Atemu sit down opposite him. He'd finally gained a friend, and all by accident. If Atemu hadn't been out for a walk one day and it hadn't started raining, he wouldn't have run into Yuugi's grandfather's game shop for cover, and they would never have started talking. It was all such a coincidence. Yuugi stuffed some of the rice and meat into his mouth.

"I wonder what was wrong with Bakura", Atemu pondered.

"Has it never happened before?" Yuugi asked while chewing. Personally, he was a bit scared of Bakura and didn't really even want to know about his personal problems, but he asked anyway.

"Nope", a new voice interrupted them. Mariku Khayal sat down beside Atemu, grinning widely. Yuugi flinched. Of course. Being friends with Atemu meant that he also had to spend time with Atemu's other friends, including Mariku and Bakura. "He wouldn't tell me, so I didn't ask." Mariku suddenly turned away from Yuugi. "Oh! Hey! Malik! MALIK!" He waved his hands wildly. "Over here! Come sit down here!" Yuugi soon realised what Mariku was doing. Malik Ishtar was heading towards an empty table, ignoring Mariku's wild attempts to get his attention. Mariku growled and got to his feet.

"Oh, Mariku..." Atemu sighed as Mariku pulled a struggling Malik towards their table and pinned him down in the seat beside him.

"Hey, let me go!" Malik hissed, but Mariku stubbornly pressed him back into the chair.

"You shouldn't be sitting alone when you can sit with me and my friends!" Mariku retorted and kept stopping Malik's attempts at escape. Malik finally gave up, glared at Mariku and started eating his rice. "Why don't you have any meat?" Mariku then asked curiously. Malik raised his eyebrows.

"I'm a vegetarian. What do you think?" he snapped. Mariku became silent after that, and when he was about to speak again, Atemu clamped a hand over his mouth.

"You'll be better off if you shut up."

"Hey, Atemu, look!" Mariku shouted, completely changing the subject. "Bakura is coming over here, and he's got company!" Yuugi looked up. Bakura was heading towards the table, followed by one of the new students; the boy, Ryou Shiromune. "I would have expected him to go for the girl, but apparently not", Mariku whispered in Atemu's ear and the both of them snickered.

"What's so funny?" Bakura asked as he sat down beside Yuugi, who shrunk down and tried to pretend to be invisible. Ryou sat down on Bakura's other side.

"Oh, nothing", Mariku said, smirking widely. "Now then, let's be nice to the new student, shall we?" He grinned at Ryou, who drew back slightly.

"I'm Atemu Namonaki", Atemu interrupted. "This idiot here is Mariku Khayal. You already know Bakura, I guess. The three of us have known each other for many years." He then gestured towards Yuugi. "This is Yuugi Mutou. I've been friends with him since the summer holidays." He then pointed at Malik. "And that's Malik Ishtar. I'm not quite sure why he's here, though."

"Because 'the idiot' forced me to come sit with you", Malik muttered, his mouth full of rice.

"It's nice to meet y-you all..." Ryou stammered, looking very frightened. Yuugi decided that it was time for him to get into the conversation. With one slightly insane guy (Mariku), two grumpy and quiet ones (Bakura and Malik), and an overly social one (Atemu), shy and quiet Ryou was bound to get a bit frightened, but Yuugi was also a shy and quiet person, and thus decided to try to have a conversation with him. He leant to the side and peeked past Bakura to get a better look at Ryou.

"Ryou? You mentioned liking games, didn't you?" he asked. Ryou immediately turned to look at him, clearly interested. "Well, my grandpa owns a game shop, so I like games myself, and Atemu is generally known as 'the King of Games' of the school."

"Not for much longer!" Seto Kaiba shouted from the other edge of the dining hall. Yuugi flinched. Atemu's cousin sure had wonderful selective hearing when it came to games.

"Just ignore him", Atemu said and looked at Ryou curiously. "Do you perhaps play Duel Monsters? Most of the boys in the school play it. Even some of the girls do." Yuugi had to smile. Duel Monsters was Atemu's greatest obsession. It was a card game which centred around monsters, spells and traps. It was one of Yuugi's favourite games too. Now everyone was looking at Ryou, seeming really interested. Except for Bakura. He was too busy stealing meat from Atemu's plate.

"Um... I actually have a deck, but I'm not very good", Ryou mumbled, poking at his food with his fork. "I prefer other kinds of games."

"Really? What kinds of games?" Yuugi asked curiously. "I'm sure I've heard of whatever game you like; my grandpa's got everything!"

"I really like tabletop RPG's", Ryou admitted. Yuugi noticed that Bakura stopped stealing Atemu's food and appeared to start listening instead. "Although I've never had anyone to play them with. In my previous school, everyone called me nerdy and teased me for liking games." Atemu laughed.

"Well, that won't happen in this school", he said. "Here, almost everyone loves games. Also, the scariest people in this school are probably Mariku and Bakura, and I guess they're not going to mess with you now that they're even letting you sit at this table. I don't know of anyone who plays tabletop RPG's though." Meanwhile, Mariku was observing Ryou, looking thoughtful, for once.

"Tabletop RPG's?" Mariku then asked, sounding eager. Ryou nodded, looking a bit worried. "Hey! Bakura loves RPG's too, don't you?" Bakura looked a bit surprised.

"Well, yes, I do. But none of you guys ever play them, so I assumed that you weren't interested", he explained. Ryou smiled widely. Bakura glared at Mariku suspiciously. "Wait. Mariku, how did you know about that? I've certainly never told you!" Mariku laughed.

"There's a book about how to play RPG's in your bookshelf. I found it in your room this morning while I was searching for the matches!" he explained. Bakura looked impressed.

"Mariku, for being a sadistic creep, you're actually very clever", he said. Yuugi had never seen Mariku look more smug.

"This is wonderful, Ryou!" Yuugi then stated. "Now you can play RPG's with someone!"

Yuugi had never seen someone look as happy as Ryou did then.

But Yuugi had also never seen anyone's face turn as red as Bakura's did then.

* * *

A/N: This is a rather silly chapter where nothing much important really happens. I loved writing that part at the beginning from Mariku's viewpoint, though. He's SO much fun to write, especially his thoughts because they go on hyper-mode just like mine… It's also the chapter where Ryou gets introduced to the main gang, still rather vague at this point: Bakura, Mariku and Atemu, who are best friends since childhood and all rather rowdy, Yuugi, who's shy and nerdy, and Malik, who's a bit rude and reluctant to be part of this group (tsundere, much?)...

Perhaps the most important thing this chapter deals with is revealing Bakura's conflicted feelings for Ryou. One thing that annoys me in the average High School AU fic is that everybody is gay and nobody cares. That's about as far from realistic as you get... Real teenagers are often confused and scared when they start doubting their sexuality (and I'm in my late teens and very sexually confused so I should know), and that was what I wanted to relay here. Bakura's only ever been attracted to girls before, but on the other hand he's never had a long-term relationship either. So the idea of being truly, madly, deeply in love with another boy scares him.

Thus, Bakura tries to distance himself from Ryou, but his friends end up unintentionally playing match-maker for our Tendershipping couple when it's revealed that they both like RPG's. Which they do in canon too, so… A common interest is a really good thing to build a relationship on, in my opinion, so why not use RPG's for that? Fact: I originally intended to write a scene with the two of them actually role-playing and then getting a bit too into it, if you know what I mean, wink wink. But it just didn't happen…


	4. Visit

And here comes the 4th chapter! Enjoy and please leave a review. :)

* * *

**Chapter 4 – Visit**

The rest of the day went by in a whim. Bakura really wished that Mariku hadn't mentioned his interest in RPG's. Now Ryou seemed to have decided that Bakura was his new best friend and kept following him around wherever he went, always talking about nonsensical things. It made everything so much harder for Bakura; he could barely breath, barely speak, barely think; all because of Ryou. The smaller boy's presence affected him so much. Too much. So when the school day finally ended, Bakura almost ran out of the classroom and hurried out of the school yard, not even staying behind to talk with his friends like he usually did.

He'd barely got around the corner when he heard someone yell to him from behind him.

"Bakura! Wait!" Bakura turned around. Ryou was running towards him, completely out of breath. Bakura felt his cheeks turn red, and once again had to gather all his willpower to control himself.

"Yes?" he muttered, observing Ryou. "What do you want?" Ryou seemed to be a bit frightened by his negative attitude, but nevertheless, he managed a smile.

"I was wondering... Would you like to come over to my house? I could teach you to play RPG's." Ryou was trying to look confident, but Bakura could see that he was really afraid to be rejected. He made the mistake of looking into Ryou's pleading brown eyes, and found himself letting out a sigh.

"Of course", his mouth replied, without his mind's consent. Ryou beamed at him.

"That's great! My home is this way!" He started walking down the road, clearly expecting Bakura to follow him. Bakura considered it for a moment, but in the end, he followed Ryou home.

Ryou didn't live far from the school. He lived in a big blue private house with a small but beautiful garden. Bakura couldn't help but stare. Pegasus wasn't exactly poor, but he had never wanted to waste money on a big house since his wife, Bakura's stepmother Cyndia, died when Bakura was younger. Thus, he and Bakura had only lived in a small house for as long as Bakura could remember. Ryou's home looked so... homely. It sounded stupid, but that was really the best word to describe it with.

"Come on!" Ryou encouraged him. "Let's go inside! You don't have to be shy!" For a second, Bakura wondered what made Ryou think that he, Bakura Crawford, one of the most frightening students in the school, would be shy. Then, he came to the realisation that Ryou had only known him for a day, and during that entire day, Bakura had barely been able to speak to Ryou without getting flustered. Ryou must have thought that his weird behaviour was because he was shy, and not because of... the other reasons. Bakura had to pull himself out of his own thoughts to follow Ryou into his home. Immediately after closing the front door behind them, they were greeted by an energetic light-blue-haired woman with her hair tied up in a bun; Ryou's mother.

"Ryou! Home already?" she asked, smiling widely. Ryou nodded.

"Yes. Has Amane come home yet?"

"No. She called and told me she was going down-town with some new friends", Ryou's mother explained. That was when she finally spotted Bakura. "Oh! Who's this, Ryou? Oh, don't tell me..." Her smile became even wider. "You've finally found yourself a friend!" She leant closer to Bakura. Bakura drew back. Ryou's mother's eye colour was the same as Amane's; bright green. All in all, she looked very much like her daughter. "Who are you, my dear?"

"I'm Bakura", Bakura said. "Bakura Crawford." Ryou's mother just kept smiling.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Bakura Crawford", she said. "Ryou has never had any friends except for his sister. You have no idea how happy I am that he has found a friend at last!" She patted Ryou's shoulder. "Now, if he only could find himself a girl to marry!"

Bakura felt his blood begin to boil. Ryou, with a girl?! He was filled with a sudden desire to seriously harm Mrs. Shiromune for saying such a thing. Ryou was his! His alone! No one was going to take Ryou from him!

Then, Bakura caught himself thinking these thoughts and felt utterly ridiculous. He had only known Ryou for a few hours, not to mention that he was a boy and Bakura had always liked girls. Bakura suddenly recalled that this very morning, he'd told Mariku and Atemu that he wanted to find Ruya again. Well, now he regretted it.

"Mum!" Ryou shouted in embarrassment, bringing Bakura out of his thoughts. Neither he or his mother had apparently noticed Bakura's inner rage. "Stop that! You know I don't-"

"I know, honey." Ryou's mother laughed. "I'm sorry. I was just joking. Is this new friend of yours just-" Before she had the chance to say anything more, Ryou nudged Bakura towards a staircase.

"Mum, I think my friend Bakura and I will be going to my room now", he said, emphasising the word "friend", and gestured towards the staircase. Bakura took the hint and started walking up the stairs. Ryou's mother just smiled and waved.

"Of course, of course! I'll leave you two alone for now", she said, looking apologetic, and swept out of Bakura's sight. Bakura didn't really know what to think of Ryou's mother. On one hand, she seemed nice, but on the other hand, she had made that comment about Ryou marrying a girl and...

"I'm sorry about Mum", Ryou said as he caught up with Bakura at the top of the stairs. "She's just really glad that I've found a friend. I guess she didn't think that anyone would want to be friends with me if I told them I was..." He didn't say anything more after that; he just stopped himself really abruptly. Bakura looked at Ryou curiously.

"What?"

"Nothing", Ryou said with a sigh. "I just don't want to find a girl to marry. Oh! Here's my room!" He changed the subject suddenly, and opened a blue door which led into a big room. Bakura, however, stayed outside the room. Not wanting to marry a girl? Was Ryou, perhaps...? No, no, no. Bakura was analysing too much again. He forced himself to stop thinking. Ryou's statement could have meant many things.

Bakura took a deep breath to regain control and stepped into Ryou's room. He was surprised by what he found. He had expected small and sweet Ryou's room to be...innocent, somehow. However, Ryou's room had black walls and was full of bookshelves filled to the edges with all kinds of strange books and games. There was a big window in the room, however, which pretty much saved the room from being engulfed in never-ending darkness. Just beneath the window, there was a big desk. Ryou sat down on his bed and gestured for Bakura to sit down beside him. Bakura, however, didn't feel like taking a seat so close to Ryou, so instead, he climbed onto Ryou's desk and sat down.

"I like your room", he finally said, breaking the silence between them.

"I'm glad to hear that", Ryou replied, still sounding a bit shy and worried. "Hey... Bakura?" He shifted nervously on his bed.

"...Yes?" Bakura inquired.

"Do you want to play a game?" Ryou asked. Bakura nodded. That was what he came here for, after all. Just wasting time by sitting quietly in Ryou's room wasn't very interesting, after all.

"What do you think I came here for?" he asked sarcastically. Ryou smiled.

"All right. Let's get started."

–

The next few hours went by in a whim. Ryou didn't remember when he had last had this fun. Probably not since Amane stopped playing games with him several years back. However, Bakura was very different from Amane. He didn't have the bubbly, happy and cheerful personality that Ryou's sister had; rather the complete opposite. He was ill-tempered and didn't say much, and very sarcastic. Ryou liked that. He found Bakura's sarcasm amusing. Bakura was also surprisingly good at RPG's. Ryou hadn't expected him to be such a quick learner. Bakura seemed to be a natural at adapting different roles and strategies. Ryou was very impressed. They tried playing most of Ryou's RPG's, and after maybe five different games, they were interrupted by the door opening suddenly.

"Ryou! Mum says dinner's ready... Oh!" Amane stared at Ryou and Bakura on the floor playing games in surprise. "Aren't you the boy in our class who fainted this morning?" She looked at Bakura with a grin, and Bakura frowned.

"What if I am? Does it matter?" he asked and glared at her. She just looked at him, smiling.

"Come downstairs for dinner", she said and disappeared out of the room. Bakura looked at Ryou, questioning.

"Am I staying for dinner?"

"Of course you are!" Ryou said and got up from the floor. "Why shouldn't you? Mum knows you're here; I'm sure she's made enough so that you can have some too! Come on!" Bakura looked a bit unsure, but he got up and followed Ryou down the stairs anyway.

Dinner was awkward. Ryou, Amane, their mother and Bakura were all seated around the table and ate in silence at first.

"So..." Amane began, looking at Bakura. "What's he doing here?"

"Bakura likes RPG's and didn't have anyone else to play with, so I invited him home", Ryou explained. Amane looked surprised.

"You like games?" she asked Bakura.

"Is that really so unbelievable?" Bakura retorted.

"Um... No, not really", Amane said. "But I made quite a few friends at school today, and they said you're a real womaniser..." She blushed a bit as she said that. "I guess I didn't think you would be a nerd too..."

"Amane, that's rude!" their mother told her as she left the table, finished with her meal.

"Yeah. Right. Sorry", Amane said, rolling her eyes, clearly not sorry at all. Now, only the three teens were left at the table. Bakura chewed his food slowly, keeping his eyes focused on Amane.

"What else did they say about me?" he then asked slowly.

"Uh..." Amane considered his question. "Well, they said you've dumped every girl who's ever tried to date you. Within three weeks."

"Two weeks, actually", Bakura replied coolly, smirking a bit. Ryou didn't like it. Bakura's sinister smile made him uncomfortable. Was this some sort of voiceless challenge for Amane to attempt to break that record? Amane seemed to take it as such. She smiled back at him, and Ryou was beginning to feel very much like a third wheel.

"Bakura...?" he mumbled, not really wanting to be rude, but he really didn't feel comfortable with the thought of his sister fancying his new friend. "I'm done. Are you finished yet?" Actually, Ryou still had a lot of food on his plate, but Bakura didn't need to know that Ryou had originally intended to eat it. Bakura had only eaten the meat on his plate, but he got up anyway.

"Sure. I wasn't hungry anyway."

They returned to Ryou's room and sat there, Ryou on his bed and Bakura on the desk, in silence for a while. Ryou wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He wanted to go back to playing the games and just forget that they had ever been interrupted, but it was too late for that.

"I think my sister likes you." he finally stated. Bakura looked at him, raising his eyebrows.

"You think?" He chuckled as he leapt off the desk and paced around in the room. "I've noticed. Everyone does, at first." His eyes suddenly became really sad. "That is, until they get to know me. Then they realise I'm a cold-hearted bastard." He laughed, but it was a very empty laugh, no joy in it at all.

"I like you", Ryou mumbled. Bakura stopped laughing and turned to face Ryou. He looked very serious and a bit surprised.

"You... You do?" His voice was surprisingly soft, stripped of all its rudeness and pride. "I... Ryou, I don't know what to say... I'm-"

"I didn't mean it like that!" Ryou quickly added when he realised what impression he might have given Bakura. "I meant... I like you as a friend. I'm n-not attracted to you, though I am gay..." Whoops. Had he just revealed a secret to Bakura? "I mean, it's not that you're unattractive, a-actually you're really handsome, and..." He trailed off. No matter what he said, it just came out wrong and awkward. Bakura didn't say anything for a while. After about a minute, he spoke again.

"How did you know? That you were gay, I mean." What a surprising question. Ryou had expected some nasty joke, or a rude comment, so he was taken by surprise.

"Well... First I realised that I wasn't all that into pretty girls and didn't like the thought of dating or marrying one... So I thought about what it would be like dating or marrying a pretty boy, and that was about it", he explained. "I decided it pretty quickly."

"I see", Bakura said. "Does anyone else know? Except me, that is."

"Just my mother", Ryou admitted. "I was going to tell Amane, but I've never had the chance to bring it up, and I'm a bit scared to see what she thinks, to be honest. Same with my father. He's an archaeologist, so he's almost never home because he's out digging. He travels all over the world. I don't know what he would think." He wondered why he was even telling Bakura about this. For some reason, Ryou trusted him. But he had only known Bakura since this morning; was it all right to trust him? But Bakura just stood there and didn't say anything. Ryou went on. "I'm surprised. You seem to be so... accepting of this." In fact, Ryou thought for a moment that Bakura looked almost... relieved?

"You think so?" Bakura looked a bit uncomfortable. "Well... It's not all that strange, really. Since this morning, Mariku seems to have started lusting after Malik, and I highly suspect that Atemu has at least a small crush on Yuugi. So, I'm surprisingly okay with this." Ryou laughed at his comment, but quickly turned serious again.

"So you don't mind it, then? You don't mind me being gay?" he asked, barely believing it.

"No", Bakura said simply, and took a seat on the bed beside Ryou. "It doesn't make any difference to me." However, Ryou noticed that Bakura wouldn't look into his eyes when he said that.

"It's getting late", Ryou said after yet another minute of silence. It was 10.40 PM. Wow. Time really did fly when you spent time with someone. "Do you want to spend the night here? My bed is big enough for two." He didn't know what made him say that. He just didn't want Bakura to leave. Not yet. Ryou wondered since when he had become this clingy. He finally had a friend; he shouldn't be getting this possessive. But Bakura seemed to consider it.

"...Okay", he finally stated. "I'm not going to start doing this every night, though." He got off the bed and paced around the room again. "Don't get too close to me, okay? I don't like body contact."

"No problem!" Ryou said. "I'll go get one of Dad's pyjamas. I think mine are too small."

–

A few minutes later, they were both lying under the covers in Ryou's bed. Ryou was lying pressed up against the wall, and Bakura was already fast asleep on his right side. Ryou heard the other teen snore lightly. Bakura sure had fallen asleep quickly. Ryou envied him, as he had a hard time falling asleep. He moved a little closer to Bakura; not quite close enough to touch, though. He was sure Bakura wouldn't mind.

For some reason, Ryou felt like he had a connection to Bakura. Being around Bakura made him feel safe and somehow happy. Ryou kept feeling like he had forgotten something. Had he met Bakura before? In that case, when? Was that why Bakura acted so strange around him? Bakura tossed around in his sleep. He was probably dreaming something. Ryou wondered what he dreamt about.

"...Ryou..." Bakura mumbled in his sleep and moved closer to Ryou, wrapping an arm around him.

Ryou smiled, closed his eyes and finally fell asleep.

* * *

A/N: Yet another chapter where the High School AU trope is still intact. Ryou's mum is an unavoidable OC. I usually try to avoid using OC's in my fics, but sometimes I just can't avoid it, because Ryou's mother is never seen in canon so I had to make her up. Hikari, as most of you probably know, is Japanese for light. Of course, if Ryou's mother is my OC, Amane is too, in a way, in all but name, but… whatever. Moving on to other subjects.

And so, it is revealed that Ryou Shiromune is gay, much to our dear protagonist's joy/horror. Bakura still doesn't know what to think, and knowing that Ryou is gay just confuses him even more. Ryou, on the other hand, likes Bakura a lot but tries to keep it on a platonic level. Ryou strikes me as the kind of guy who'd ignore any romantic/sexual feelings he has for a friend simply because he doesn't want to ruin their friendship. Being gay makes it even more difficult for him, and entrusting Bakura with such an intimate fact comes as a surprise for both of them. Ryou is a bit blind when he doesn't notice how much Bakura likes him, though… Something that also annoys me in fics, by the way, is the seme/uke dynamic in slash relationships. There is no such thing as seme and uke in an average, real-life, healthy homosexual relationship. And I'll never write Ryou like a whimp. I hate fics which portray Ryou as weak. He's not. He's as strong as Bakura, if not stronger.

It's also revealed that Amane seems to have a crush on Bakura, and that Bakura doesn't seem to mind much. (He WILL later, trust me.) He even flirts back a bit, to the extent that he gets Ryou jealous. Oh, and then Bakura ends up sleeping over with Ryou. In his bed. Yeah. Totally platonic here. I love writing intimate conversations between a flustered Bakura and an oblivious Ryou. It's just too cute.


	5. Classmates

Sorry, I forgot to post the next chapter. T_T I was supposed to post this last week, but life got in the way... I'll try to make up for it by posting several chapters over the next few days...

* * *

**Chapter 5 – Classmates**

_It felt warm. Bakura didn't know when he had last felt so warm, both in body and in heart. He never wanted to open his eyes again. He just wanted to stay in this state of calmness forever... But a voice finally brought him back to reality._

"_Bakura? Awake yet?" When he opened his eyes, Ruya was lying next to him in bed. Ruya. His beautiful Ruya. He had never seen her smile as widely as she did when she looked into his eyes right then._

"_Ruya..." he whispered. She leant in and kissed him full on the lips._

"_Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked and pinned him down to the bed gently. "We could have had more of this. We don't have enough time." He wrapped his arms around her._

"_I'm sorry, Ruya. I was afraid. Afraid that you wouldn't care for me", he explained. "I really am sorry. I should have told you earlier; I..." She broke him off by pressing her lips to his own once again. He looked into her sad, big brown eyes and felt so guilty._

"_Don't be afraid, Bakura", she whispered. "You can tell me anything. Always."_

_And then..._

...he woke up.

Bakura felt as if the dream hadn't really ended yet. He was still dizzy from being tired, but he still felt the warmth of sleeping close to his beloved. Were dreams and reality supposed to be this intertwined? He could feel that his arms were wrapped around someone. He couldn't help but love the feeling. He buried his face into this someone's hair, when he suddenly heard a whisper in his ear.

"Um... Bakura? Awake yet?"

"Huh? What is it?" he muttered sleepily and opened his eyes, to find his vision filled with white hair. And it wasn't his own.

"Why are we cuddling?" Ryou asked, his voice shaky. Bakura realised that he somehow had managed to wrap his arms around Ryou and that Ryou's head was pressed against his chest, while he had buried his face in Ryou's hair. Bakura felt a deep wave of embarrassment and quickly let go of Ryou, no matter how much his subconscious wished to stay in the same position.

"...Sorry", Bakura said. "I didn't mean for that to happen. I don't usually sleep next to other people, so I didn't know that..."

"That you're affectionate in your sleep?" Ryou finished with a laugh. Bakura wanted to laugh, but he couldn't quite bring himself to. He wanted to reach out to Ryou; to hold him closer and feel that soft, soft hair in his face again. But he was straight, wasn't he? He'd always been straight. Ryou didn't change anything. Not even now that Bakura knew that Ryou was gay...Right?

"Let's just get ready for school now, okay?" he said, not feeling like discussing anything right now, because he had just realised something.

He had never told Pegasus where he went.

–

Pegasus did not look happy when he entered the classroom and saw Bakura. When the first lesson was over, he walked up to Bakura. Bakura was afraid that Pegasus would start scolding him in class, but Pegasus just looked at him sternly and said:

"We need to have a discussion, young man. Come home immediately when the school day is over." Then, he walked out of the classroom. Ryou looked at Bakura in confusion.

"What was the teacher talking about?" he asked. Bakura didn't understand what Ryou meant at first, but then he realised that Ryou wasn't aware of his relation to Pegasus.

"He's my father. I guess he's not very happy that I didn't tell him where I went", Bakura explained.

"Oh", Ryou said. "That's right... Your last names... I didn't realise. I'm sorry. I could go and explain to him-"

"Don't. I can handle it by myself", Bakura insisted. It was enough that he was in trouble. He didn't want to get Ryou involved.

–

When Bakura had thought that the day couldn't get worse, it turned out that he had been wrong. When the last lesson was about to begin, Anzu Mazaki came into the class and closed the door behind her. Everyone looked at her in confusion when she walked up to the blackboard and turned to face the class.

"Pegasus decided that the class needed some bonding time, so he gave me the assignment to help everyone in the class to get to know each other better for this lesson!" she explained, smiling widely.

"Why do we have to do that? We've already been going to school together for a year!" Hiroto Honda protested.

"Not all of us!" Anzu retorted. "The Shiromune twins have only been here for a day, and we don't know Ishtar so well either!" Malik looked embarrassed and tried to take cover from everyone's eyes behind Mariku. Bakura rolled his eyes. Bonding time. Wonderful. (And he meant that in a sarcastic way.)

"All right!" Mai Kujaku shouted and leapt out of her chair. "Come on, everyone! Sit down on the floor in a circle!" Despite some protests, all the sixteen students were soon sitting in a circle on the floor.

"So, what do we do now?" Katsuya Jonouchi asked grumpily.

"Take turns asking each other questions!" Anzu explained. "I can start. Hmm... Let's see... Kaiba!" She pointed at Seto Kaiba. "Tell us about your family!" Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"I have a father; his name is Gozaburo Kaiba, as you all should know, as he is the richest man in Domino City."

"No need to get boastful!" Jonouchi interrupted him. Kaiba glared at him and continued.

"I have a younger brother named Mokuba. He's twelve years old. I also have an aunt; Atsuko Namonaki, and she has a son who is my cousin, who is sitting over there." Kaiba pointed at Atemu.

"Wow. I didn't know you and Namonaki were cousins!" Mai grinned. "Okay, Kaiba. Now you have to ask someone a question." Kaiba groaned, but obeyed.

"Jonouchi", he said. His rival turned to look at him suspiciously. "When did you last wash your hair?"

"Was that supposed to be an insult?" Jonouchi asked, sounding annoyed. "Come on. You can do better, Kaiba. I washed it yesterday. Happy now?" Jonouchi turned to Miho. "Nosaka. Are you still hung up on Crawford here after he dumped you?" Bakura felt a deep desire to punch Jonouchi. He just had to bring that up, didn't he?

"Come on, Jonouchi... That was last year!" Miho said with a sigh. "Actually, I have a new boyfriend by now." She quickly changed the subject, and Bakura noticed that she had avoided the question very smoothly. So she still liked him, to some extent. Hopefully she would just ignore that extent and stick to her new boyfriend. "Okay, now I want to ask a question!" Surprisingly enough, she turned to Mariku, of all people. "Khayal. I'm going to ask you a question that at least some of us girls are very eager to know the answer to."

"And that is?" Mariku raised one eyebrow. Bakura wondered what the girls could possibly want to ask him. Anzu and Mai both giggled.

"Do you have a crush on Ishtar?" Miho asked eagerly. Bakura sighed. He should have seen that coming. Malik didn't look so happy either. He had pressed himself as close to Mariku as possible in order to avoid attention, but now he shuffled further away from Mariku and instead pressed himself up against Bakura, which in turn forced Bakura to move closer to Ryou. Mariku, however, looked unfazed. He never thought of what consequences his reactions would have, did he?

"I don't see the point of lying about this, so... Yes." The girls stopped giggling from the surprise.

"I didn't know you were into boys, Khayal", Otogi said. "But I guess Ishtar looks so much like a girl that you can hardly see the difference!" He, Honda and Jonouchi all started laughing. Malik looked embarrassed and insulted.

"That was uncalled for!" Mariku snarled, and a few seconds later, the classroom had been transformed into a battlefield. Bakura didn't know that Mariku was capable of moving so quickly; somehow he had leapt at Otogi and tried to knock him to the ground, and then Honda and Jonouchi had joined in. Now, the four boys were in a pile on the floor, fighting each other.

"Stop it!" Anzu shouted, and with combined powers, she and Mai pulled Mariku off Otogi. "Let's calm down, everyone, and get on with this! Khayal, it's your turn to ask a question!"

"Otogi, why are you an idiot?" Mariku muttered. Anzu groaned.

"No rude questions, Khayal." Sure. That hadn't stopped Kaiba from asking about Jonouchi's hair.

"Fine", Mariku said and looked at Bakura for a second, giving him a grin. "Bakura?" Bakura realised that Mariku was probably taking advantage of the situation to ask him something really stupid, and glared at Mariku intensely to tell him to shut up. "Do YOU think there's anything wrong with Malik's style?" Oh. Nothing worse than that. Bakura cleared his throat and decided to be the mature one for a change.

"Of course not. Teasing someone for their looks is childish and ridiculous", he said in a posh way. He glanced at Malik. The Egyptian actually looked relieved by their support, for once.

"See?" Mariku looked at Otogi triumphantly. "Bakura agrees with me!" Otogi huffed.

"It's not like Crawford has anything to say about the fact. I mean, he's clearly got the hots for Mr Shiromune right there, and Shiromune looks EVEN more like a girl. Didn't you stay at his place last night?" Bakura felt his cheeks heat up as the rest of the class gasped and stared at him and Ryou. He wondered where Otogi had come across that information, but soon realised that it had probably been from Amane, as Otogi was good friends with Anzu and Mai, who in turn had made friends with Amane.

"Um... There's nothing between us", Ryou stammered, just as red as Bakura, and also frightened from having everyone staring at him. Bakura felt his anger growing. He took a deep breath and attempted to regain control, but...

"So that's why you slept in the same bed, then!" Bakura didn't register who said that. He only heard the laughter of his classmates, and Ryou making some embarrassed protesting, and he only felt rage. He heard Atemu saying something too; presumably an attempt to make everyone calm down, but it was too late for that. He would make Otogi pay for this.

That was the last thing he remembered for a few minutes.

–

The next thing he knew, was sitting on the floor with someone's arms on his shoulders, and a voice telling him to calm down over and over again. Someone was talking in the background.

"What happened? Why did he do that?" That was Atemu talking, and he sounded worried.

"I don't think he was self-aware at the time. He completely lost control of himself", said the voice which had previously been soothing him. Bakura now recognised the voice as Ryou's. Bakura also realised now that his eyes were closed. He opened them. All of his classmates were gathered around him. Bakura noticed that Otogi had three long cuts down his right cheek.

"Where did I get the knife from?" Bakura asked dizzily. Otogi looked down at him, looking a bit disgusted.

"You didn't use a knife. You used your fingernails." Bakura looked down at his hands and found his right hand's fingers covered with dried blood.

"What the hell did I do?" he wondered, mostly to himself.

"You screamed bloody murder, then you leapt at him and told him you'd show him the true meaning of pain", Mariku explained with a grin. Bakura wondered if he was going insane or if he was just tired.

"I don't remember doing that."

"It was probably some kind of blackout or panic attack", Ryou said. "Are you all right?" He tried to help Bakura get to his feet, but Bakura didn't accept his help and struggled to his feet on his own.

"Should we tell Pegasus?" Anzu asked in worry.

"No", Bakura said. "I can deal with him on my own." He looked at Otogi. "Apologies for attacking you." But he glared at Otogi in a way that clearly showed that he wasn't really sorry at all, despite not remembering what exactly he did. Otogi just smirked.

"Apology accepted, 'King of Thieves'." With that, he walked away, leaving Bakura to stare after him in horror.

"How did he-" Bakura whispered, but Atemu interrupted him.

"That might have something to do with the things you screamed at him when you attacked him", he whispered back. "Want to know what you said?" Atemu cleared his throat and imitated Bakura's voice in an aggressive tone: "'Foolish mortal! You have angered the King of Thieves! I shall teach you the true meaning of pain!'"

Bakura promised himself to avoid Otogi as much as he could from now on. He also promised himself to never mention what had happened today to Pegasus.

–

"You could have called me", Pegasus said seriously. Bakura sighed. The school day was over now, and when Bakura had arrived home, Pegasus had already been there, standing in the kitchen waiting for him. "I was worried about you when you didn't answer my calls!"

"I forgot", Bakura admitted truthfully. "And I had my phone turned off."

"Where were you, then? With a girl?" Pegasus asked, glaring at him. "You really shouldn't-"

"I wasn't with a girl!" Bakura interrupted him. "I was with Ryou Shiromune, okay? He invited me to play RPG's with him, and it got late, so I stayed the night."

"The new student?" Pegasus looked surprised, but started smiling once the surprise faded. "I'm glad to see you're looking out for him, Bakura. You really like him, don't you, my boy?" He patted Bakura's head in a fatherly way. "Was he the reason you fainted in class yesterday?"

"What?!" Bakura shouted. "No, he wasn't! Why would he be?!" Pegasus chuckled lightly.

"Because you're blushing, because you spent the night at his place and because he is a really handsome young boy", he said. Bakura just wanted to run back to his room and hide under his bed. He felt like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I'm not gay", he just whispered in the end, realising how stupid he sounded. Pegasus just sighed and shook his head.

"If that's what you say. Please, Bakura, next time you decide to sleep over at someone's house, call me first." With that, he walked out of the kitchen, leaving Bakura behind to feel slightly sheepish.

* * *

A/N:

Ah. The bonding experience with your classmates. Every introvert student's greatest horror. This was a mostly fun chapter to write. My favourite part is the beginning, where Bakura and Ryou wake up cuddling and Bakura experiences one of the most embarrassing moments in his life (probably). ^^ I just love writing my version of Bakura embarrassed, for some reason. Maybe it's because he always acts so cool and cocky, but then his inner feelings suddenly show and it's awesome.

The bonding experience starts out as something that may seem rather pointless, with random classmates babbling about their lives. But then it gets into the sensitive area. As I said previously, I find it unrealistic for most High School AU fics that everyone accepts a gay relationship just like that. That's not how it is in real life usually, sadly. Otogi is such a jerk in this fic, but if it comforts you, I feel really bad about using him as an antagonistic character. (Just some side-info: Otogi is such a jerk about this because he's bisexual and in denial. But that's off the point.) But every story needs antagonists, and Otogi just seemed to work for the role. (Canon Otogi can be kind of a jerk too, when you think about it...) I'm so tired of seeing Anzu as the antagonist, so I just had to pick somebody else. Of course, I'm not going to make Otogi completely irredeemable... I hope his behaviour isn't completely impossible to comprehend…

Pegasus and Bakura are also an interesting pair to write. They're family, and Bakura's a snarky little bastard who seems to have zero respect for Pegasus, but Pegasus is that kind of cool parent who seems to understand his son's behaviour better than even Bakura himself. He knows about Ryou, of course, but poor Bakura is still in denial… The sexuality crisis continues... XD

I'll try to get the next chapter up quicker... T_T


	6. Day Out With Friends

...And I'm late again XD Sorry, I've been busy with school and other crap and I kept forgetting to post the next chapter... But it's here now! I need to put these up quicker... and I also need to reply to my reviews once I get them... I probably forgot to reply to some of the reviews I got last chapter... Sorry... Please enjoy this chapter and forgive me for my forgetfulness... :)

* * *

**Chapter 6 – Day Out With Friends**

Bakura didn't know how he survived the next few days. Probably because he began getting used to the feelings he got when he spent time around Ryou and learnt to hide them better. He and Ryou became much closer friends once Bakura got himself under control. Ryou also became really good friends with Yuugi, so now that Yuugi was an obligatory part of the gang thanks to Atemu, Ryou was too. Mariku had also made Malik spend time with them more, but Bakura noticed that Malik didn't seem to like it all that much. Bakura also noticed that Malik always skipped the PE classes. Mariku had tried questioning him about it, but Malik just said that he hated PE, as simple as that. Bakura didn't believe him.

A few weeks after the school start, Yuugi came with a suggestion. It was a Friday, and school had just ended. Just as everyone was leaving the classroom, Yuugi gathered Atemu, Ryou, Bakura, Malik and Mariku around his desk.

"Let's go out and have some fun", the small teen told them. Bakura was surprised. He hadn't expected small, nerdy Yuugi to come up with a suggestion like that. But he liked the idea. So, surprisingly, he was the first one to agree with Yuugi.

"All right. I'm in", he said. Yuugi looked surprised, but then he gave Bakura a wide smile. Atemu nodded.

"I'll come too."

"Sounds great!" Ryou said with a grin.

"I'll be there!" Mariku said and looked at Malik. "You'll come too, right Malik?" Malik looked unsure.

"I should go home..." he mumbled. Bakura noticed that his usual cocky and confident attitude had disappeared to god knows where. "My father will be wondering where I am..."

"Come on, Malik!" Mariku whined and clung to Malik's arm. "I haven't seen you out in town once since you started Domino High! Come with us, just this once!" Malik still looked unsure, but he sighed and nodded.

"All right. Let's go." Thus, the six teenagers all left the school, heading down-town. (This time, Bakura even remembered to send a text message to Pegasus to inform him that he wasn't coming home yet.)

–

"I really like this place", Ryou stated. "It's so calm and peaceful. How did you come up with the idea to go here, Yuugi?" They were currently sitting in a small coffee shop not far from the city square. Bakura had never been here before. At this time of the day, not many people were here, as most of Domino City's adult population was still at work and the teenagers usually went to other places.

"My grandpa used to take me here when I was younger", Yuugi explained and smiled brightly as a waitress approached them. "Hello! I'll have a cup of hot chocolate with cream and a piece of strawberry shortcake!" The waitress smiled and wrote down his order.

"I'd like..." Atemu eyed the menu carefully. "...one Caffe Latte, and some biscuits."

"I'll have green tea for my drink", Ryou piped up. "Oh, and the cupcakes sound great! I'll have those too!" Bakura noticed that Ryou sounded excited. He assumed that it was because Ryou wasn't used to spending time with good friends. For some reason, Ryou's happiness made Bakura want to smile too. Bakura noticed the waitress looking at him expectantly, and realised that she was probably waiting to take his order. His mind went completely blank.

"Um... Cappuccino and a piece of chocolate cake for me, please", he finally said after searching through his mind for the first drink and sweet food that came to his mind.

"I'll just have a glass of water, please", Malik said softly. Mariku glanced at him suspiciously, before turning to the waitress.

"I want black coffee and two brownies with lots of cream", he said sharply, making it sound more like a military command than a polite order. The waitress didn't question him at all; instead she just smiled at them all and went to get their orders.

"I was wondering about everyone", Ryou said, unexpectedly starting a conversation when no one else did. "I want to hear about everyone's family. I want to know more about you all. I mean, we're good friends now, after all."

"Naturally", Mariku grinned. "You start, Bakura." He poked Bakura in the cheek, like always.

"As if you didn't know already", Bakura muttered, before quickly informing everyone of his family situation. "I live with my adopted father Pegasus J. Crawford, whom you all know because he's our class's form teacher this year. He's from America, but he adopted me from an orphanage here in Japan. He gave me a Japanese first name so that I'd fit in better in Japan. My stepmother died from an illness when I was about seven. Her name was Cyndia Crawford."

"I'm sorry to hear that", Yuugi said. "So you're adopted then? Where are your real parents?"

"I don't know. Pegasus never bothered finding out", Bakura replied. "I guess he wants me to feel like I belong in the Crawford family and nowhere else."

"Interesting", Ryou said with a smile. "Such a mysterious past..." Bakura had to push memories of his past life deeper into his subconscious to stop them from resurfacing as he observed Ryou's smile. Ryou changed the subject when Bakura didn't reply. "My family is just normal, I guess. I have Mum, Dad and Amane, but Dad's never home because he's an archaeologist."

"Archaeologist?" Yuugi pondered. "That's really cool. I just live with my grandpa at the Kame Game Shop. My parents died in an accident when I was really young and my grandpa took me in. He's the only family I remember."

"I live with my mother. My father was never around; he left when I was a baby. Mum and I still kept his surname, though", Atemu said. "We live with uncle Gozaburo, which means I'm also stuck with my annoying cousins." He sighed dramatically and made Yuugi, Ryou and Mariku laugh.

"Everyone has such cool family histories", Mariku stated. "Well, I shouldn't say anything because my family history is even more fucked up. I live alone with my older brother Rishid. He's twenty-five. We lived in Egypt until I was five and he was thirteen. Our parents always neglected us, so we ran away." He grinned, but his monologue was interrupted by the waitress bringing them their orders.

"You ran away?" Yuugi asked while devouring his strawberry shortcake. "Where to?" Even Malik was listening curiously by now. Mariku just laughed.

"We sneaked aboard a plane and went to Japan!" he said. Ryou, Yuugi and Malik just stared at him in disbelief. "Then Gozaburo Kaiba pretty much saved us by getting us ID's and all the stuff we needed, after we accidentally saved his son from a kidnapper. We haven't had any contact with our parents since then."

"You're kidding, right?" Malik asked after a moment of silence.

"Nope!" Mariku smirked as he chewed on one of his brownies.

"Trust me, he's telling the truth. That's how we first met. Seto hates when we mention it", Atemu ensured. Bakura almost wanted to laugh at the other three's expressions. He had heard this story many times, but it was always amusing when someone else was introduced to the crazy life of Mariku Khayal. As everyone began to eat and drink, Bakura couldn't help but notice that Mariku's eyes were on Malik and his glass of water all the time. After a while, Malik seemed to notice too.

"What are you looking at?" he snarled. Mariku tilted his head slightly to the side, looking very serious.

"These brownies are delicious", he then stated as he grabbed the brownie he hadn't touched yet and held it up in front of Malik's mouth. "You should try one." With no more warning, he grinned wildly and forced the brownie into Malik's slightly gaping mouth.

"Mmh!" Malik tried to spit the brownie out, but in the end, he took a bite of it instead. Bakura found it slightly amusing to see how Malik's eyes lit up as he tasted the sweet treat.

"See? I knew you would like it", Mariku said with a smirk as he force-fed Malik more of the brownie. Although actually, it wasn't really force-feeding any more, as Malik actually ate it by free will now. Atemu chuckled lightly.

"You sure are stubborn, aren't you? Making Malik eat things when he doesn't really want them."

"Ooh, Malik did want it", Mariku said confidently and wrapped his arm around Malik. "Didn't you?"

"...Well, yes", Malik admitted. "I didn't have any money, though." He glanced at Mariku, looking unsure. "I'll pay you back later..." But Mariku shook his head.

"Nope, you won't. My treat", he said. Malik looked very grateful. Bakura rolled his eyes. Great. Now Mariku was trying to be romantic. It didn't suit him, at least not according to Bakura. But Atemu smiled knowingly. Yuugi broke into the conversation.

"Malik, you didn't tell us anything about your family yet", he stated. Malik's smile vanished.

"Oh. Well, I live with my father, and my big sister Isis." He took a big bite from the brownie, which Mariku was still holding out to him. "Isis works at the museum, and my father... He doesn't do that much, really." They all ate in silence for a while after that, until everyone was finished.

"Wait. We can't pay yet!" Mariku announced. He turned to look at Malik. "You've got cream on your cheek." Indeed; Malik had a huge stain of cream on his left cheek. Malik raised his hand to wipe it away, but before he had the chance to do anything more, Mariku grinned psychotically, leant closer to Malik, and licked the cream off his cheek. Yuugi and Atemu made disgusted faces.

"Eww!" Yuugi exclaimed.

"Mariku, not in public!" Atemu complained. Mariku just laughed and leant in to lick Malik's cheek a second time, just because he could, but this time Malik was quicker and punched him, right on his left cheek. How ironic.

"Don't you ever do that again!" Malik hissed, still red in the face. Mariku pouted, which made Bakura start laughing at his expense.

–

Bakura yawned as he stepped into the kitchen. Pegasus smiled at him widely from the kitchen table.

"Did you have fun?"

"I guess", Bakura said and took a seat opposite him, but not before making a detour to the fridge to get himself a can of coke. "We went to a coffee shop. Then we walked around in town for a while, until Yuugi had to go home. Everyone else decided to go home then, too."

"I'm glad to hear that", Pegasus said, smiling widely. "I think Ryou and Yuugi might be a good influence on you and Mariku, especially. Atemu has always been rather well-behaved, but not enough to influence you two." He paused. "I don't know about Malik, though. The poor boy seems so lonely, and sad..." Pegasus looked at Bakura questioningly. "I hope you're looking out for him."

"I think Mariku does that well enough", Bakura stated, not elaborating on the topic any further. Pegasus looked a bit suspicious, but nodded.

"I'll take your word for it." He leant forward, eyeing Bakura curiously. "What about Ryou, then?"

"What about him?" Bakura retorted. He really didn't feel like discussing Ryou right now. He had finally learnt to keep himself under control when he was near Ryou; he did not need Pegasus bringing it up now. Pegasus just sighed.

"Nothing, my boy. Nothing."

–

Bakura had a dream a few nights later. A dream that, interestingly enough, wasn't a reincarnation dream, but something even stranger.

_Bakura was standing in a room filled with darkness. On one wall, there was a picture of Ruya, and on the opposite one, a picture of Ryou. On the bed in the middle of the room, there sat a man. The man had tanned skin, a bare muscular chest, sharp lavender eyes, silver-white hair and a big scar on his right cheek. He wore only a long red coat, a kilt and lots of jewellery. It took Bakura surprisingly long to recognise him._

_"__You're my past self. Bakura, the King of Thieves." he stated once he realised. The Thief grinned; it was a deep, insane grin that frightened Bakura beyond belief._

_"__And you, Bakura Crawford, are confused." He leapt off the bed and moved closer to Bakura, raised his hand and caressed Bakura's scar-less right cheek. This was strange. Too strange, Bakura thought._

_"__Normal people aren't supposed to be able to speak to their past selves", Bakura protested. The Thief laughed coldly._

_"__You are far from normal, Bakura Crawford." They remained silent for a while after that, and stood still, facing each other. That was, until Bakura realised that the Thief might be here to give him advice._

_"__What should I do about Ryou?" he asked. The Thief tilted his head to the side._

_"__Why are you asking me that?"_

_"__I need your advice, okay?" Bakura asked in frustration. "I need to know! What would the great King of Thieves do if his only love had been reincarnated into a boy?"_

_"__Why do you ask me? If you are me, you should be able to answer that question", the Thief replied smartly._

_"__I want to hear YOUR opinion", Bakura hissed. The Thief looked at him and giggled, madness apparent in his eyes._

_"__Ruya. My Ruya. I love her. I love her so much. She means the world to me." He looked at Bakura intensely. "But now she is a boy. Ryou Shiromune is a boy. And poor Bakura Crawford is confused and afraid of being judged by society, the coward!" The Thief laughed again. "So, what is more important? Love or the judgement of others? It seems our love is destined to be forbidden; back in my time I was a damned criminal, and this time Ruya is a boy and I am trapped! Ha ha ha ha ha..." His laughter became wilder and wilder, and Bakura had to grab the Thief's shoulders and shake him until he stopped._

_"__It's not funny! Stop that!"_

_"__But it is!" the Thief retorted, still giggling a bit. "You are such a fool, Bakura Crawford." He seemed to sober up as he spoke. "Do not make my mistakes, Bakura Crawford."_

_"__You want me to take a chance. To attempt to tell Ryou about my feelings", Bakura realised. "I know he's gay, and that he's a lovely person who would never use this knowledge against me. Even my dad suspects it. What do I have to lose?" The Thief's new-found sanity seemed to have slipped away again, because he was now giggling maniacally once again._

_"__He he he he heh he heh!"_

_"__Madman", Bakura muttered as he heard the alarm clock ring._

When he woke up, he remembered everything he had dreamt about. Interestingly enough, he wasn't feeling confused or worried at all. Instead, he felt more determined than ever.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is purely character development. (Just like all the others before it…) But we're finally getting somewhere. The main gang meets up at a café and they spend some time talking about their families and their lives before present day. It was such fun coming up with backstories for everyone. Mariku's crazy life is the best, though. It's so unbelievable at first but then it turns out it's all true...

It also begins to get clear that Malik is hiding something. This fic has very VERY many subplots, most of them coming into play later, and the two most important subplots focusing on the relationships between characters are the Tendershipping one (Bakura x Ryou) and the Bronzeshipping one (Mariku x Malik). This far, Tender has been the main focus, but we can see some hinted unrequited Bronze from Mariku's side already. (I love that part with the tongue. It's such typical behaviour that fits both my version of Mariku and the canon Yami Malik/Marik/whatever I should call him.) Actually, Tender was supposed to be the only main pairing of the fic, but Mariku and Malik got persuative and somehow ended up playing the role of the second main pairing. It was completely unintentional, but it happened anyway. Whoops.

And Bakura, at last, admits to himself that he likes Ryou and decides to take a chance on his feelings. With some persuation from the Thief King himself, lurking in the depths of Bakura's mind. As one might see, the Thief King is acting a bit... mad, but he still ends up helping Bakura to realise that he has to stop being afraid of being judged by everyone else. (This part of the chapter is some really unintentional, enormous foreshadowing for an important scene at the very end of the fic, btw.)


	7. Preparations

I'm so slow at updating :/ But here's the 7th chapter; hope you enjoy, and please leave reviews, because even if small, they make me very happy ^^

* * *

**Chapter 7 – Preparations**

Bakura didn't tell Ryou anything yet. He wanted to wait for his chance. If he confessed his love for Ryou, he wanted everything to be perfect. He also had to be completely sure of himself. If anything went wrong, he would never be able to forgive himself.

Time went fast over the next months. August and September just swept by. Then, suddenly, it was the end of October. And that meant only one thing, Bakura realised with dread. It was time for the school's yearly Halloween party. On the other hand, this could be his chance...

–

Mariku was so excited. The Halloween party was getting closer. It was Mariku's favourite part of the school year for one reason: the fact that the students had the school all to themselves and got to do whatever they wanted. Mariku didn't remember much from last year, though. He only remembered that someone had brought alcohol. And that he'd woken up under a table next morning next to Seto Kaiba. Neither had ever mentioned it again. Mariku sneaked down the corridors, coming across Jonouchi, Honda and Otogi.

"Hey! Are you guys ready for the Halloween party?" he shouted as he leapt up behind them. They all screamed and looked terribly frightened. Mariku licked his lips. They were scared now? Oh, just wait until the party...

"Oh, hey Khayal", Jonouchi greeted. He was the only one in Mariku's class except for Mariku's friends who wasn't scared to death of him. Mariku would have to do something about that... "Sure... Just gotta find something to dress up as, y'know? The theme is Ancient Egypt this year, right?" Oh. Mariku had forgotten about that part. He ran off down the corridor, not bothering to answer Jonouchi. He heard the three boys whispering insults behind him. Not like he cared anyway. He soon spotted the boy he was looking for.

"Hi Malik!" Mariku yelled cheerfully and attempted to slip his arms around Malik's waist from behind him, but Malik was (like always) too quick for him and turned around to punch him in the face, but Mariku ducked.

"You've been stalking me ever since the school year began! When will you stop?!" Malik hissed. Mariku observed the other, feeling very disappointed. He had never come across such a stubborn person before. He'd dated plenty of girls and a few boys (but not even Bakura knew about the boys), and they didn't usually have a problem with accepting his advances. (The real problem usually began afterwards...) Mariku didn't answer Malik's question. Instead, he changed the subject into his source of excitement.

"The Halloween party is next Saturday", he stated and followed as Malik walked away from him down the corridor. "We should get some authentic costumes! The theme is Ancient Egypt!"

"Does everyone have to dress up?" Malik asked suspiciously. Mariku nodded.

"It's a tradition. Hey! I have an idea!" He took hold of Malik's hands, smiling widely. "Do you have any traditional Ancient Egyptian clothes?"

"I think my family has some, yes", Malik replied, still sounding suspicious. "How so?"

"We should wear them!" Mariku suggested. "Please?" he added, for good measure.

"I don't know if my father will be okay with that..." Malik mumbled.

"What about your sister? She works at the museum, right? Maybe she could get us some clothes?" Mariku went on.

"Maybe", Malik said, beginning to smile a little. "I could ask her." Mariku loved seeing Malik smile.

–

"Look at these!" Mariku exclaimed as he swept into the living room, purple cloak billowing behind him. He was dressed in a blue tunic and wearing lots of jewellery and make-up which brought out his Egyptian features. "Aren't they simply gorgeous?" Rishid Khayal sighed and turned off the TV.

"Where did you get those clothes, brother?" he asked, desperately hoping that the answer didn't involve theft, injuries or fire in any way.

"They're for the Halloween party. Malik borrowed them from his sister. She works at the museum." Mariku jumped up and down in excitement. "Isn't the cloak lovely?"

"Who's Malik?" Rishid asked in confusion.

"I'm Malik", a voice echoed from the hallway. A feminine Egyptian boy wearing a red cloak and a red long-sleeved robe that looked more like a dress than like a tunic peeked into the room. "You must be Rishid. I'm your brother's classmate. I hope I'm not causing any trouble by visiting your home." He bowed lightly.

"No need to be so proper, Malik!" Mariku said and chuckled. "Rishid isn't a harsh guy. You look beautiful in those clothes, by the way." Rishid noticed his brother's hungry eyes observing Malik and realised that his brother's thoughts about this boy were far from innocent. "When did you have time to change into those clothes, anyway? I would've liked to see you without them..." Mariku crooned. Malik turned as red as his clothes, and Rishid shook his head in despair.

"Too much information, Mariku."

–

"Look at this", Atemu said and attached the diadem to his forehead. Yuugi observed it curiously. The diadem had the Eye of Horus on the front and further in, there were extensions which looked like a pair of wings. "It's a copy of a diadem that an actual Pharaoh wore back in the Ancient Egyptian days. Combined with this cloak and the tunic..." Atemu spun around, showing off the white and gold tunic and the blue cloak. "...I'll look like an actual Egyptian Pharaoh!"

"Don't forget the make-up and the jewellery!" Yuugi added excitedly as he leapt up from Atemu's bed. Atemu looked wonderful in the Pharaoh's clothes. He looked so regal in them; it was as if he was an actual Pharaoh. "You're so lucky that your uncle is rich; you can buy such beautiful things with that money!"

"What are you going to wear then, Yuugi?" Atemu asked curiously. "If you want to, I could get you some clothes too..."

"No, no, no!" Yuugi protested. "I can't have you do that! I've already found some things among my grandpa's old things!" He didn't mention that he had dug through his grandpa's old things without permission. "I can show you!" Out of a plastic bag, he pulled a worn tunic and a dirty brown cloak. "I'm going for the peasant look. It's easier without all the jewellery. I have something you could use, though." He pulled out a golden necklace with a big pendant shaped like an up-and-down pyramid, with the Eye of Horus on it. "I don't know exactly what it is, but it looked very Egyptian, so I took it."

"Let me look." Atemu took the pendant and looked at it. "This looks familiar. I think I've seen it somewhere before, but I'm not sure where. It looks like it's a puzzle. It's as if it's made of many pieces..."

"I know. I noticed", Yuugi replied. "It's really cool. I wonder where my grandpa got it. Do you want to use it?"

"If you allow me to", Atemu said with a smile. "It will complete my costume excellently. Thank you, Yuugi."

–

"Where did you get this?" Bakura asked in amazement. Ryou shrugged.

"Mum found it in the basement. She said that Dad must have bought it on one of his travels to Egypt. It didn't fit me, but I thought it might fit you." he explained. Bakura ran his fingers over the red fabric of the Egyptian coat. He seemed amazed by it.

"You want me to wear it?" he asked. Ryou nodded. Bakura laughed. "Wow. This is great. I've been looking for a coat exactly like this one, but I didn't think I'd ever find one." He pulled it on and tried walking around with it. The coat fit him perfectly; it floated maybe a few inches above the floor but never touched the ground. "Now I just need to find a kilt." Ryou laughed from the mental image.

"A kilt? Are you going to wear a kilt? That will be a sight." he said in disbelief. Bakura smirked.

"It will be, I promise you." The way he looked at Ryou was... challenging, somehow. Ryou didn't know what to make of it. He didn't have a chance to say anything either, because right then, Amane burst into his room.

"Ryou, do you have any purple thread?" she yelled, but then she saw Bakura and blushed. She let out a nervous giggle. "Oh... Hi, Crawford..."

"Amane", Ryou said, feeling annoyed. "I don't sew. Why would I have any thread?" Amane didn't reply. She just glared at him and stormed out of the room. The two white-haired boys just stared after her.

"So", Bakura said. "What costumes will the Shiromune household wear on Halloween this year?"

"Amane is making a belly-dancer costume", Ryou said, sighing. "It's very revealing, and Mum keeps telling her to take something from Dad's collection of Egyptian clothes instead, but she refuses."

"And what is Mr Shiromune wearing, then?" Bakura asked smugly. "No belly-dancing from you?" Ryou blushed involuntarily.

"No, silly!" he exclaimed. "I'll take something from Dad's collection; I don't know." He looked at Bakura curiously. "What do you think I should wear?" Bakura smirked in a way that reminded Ryou of Mariku.

"I'd love to see you in a dress", he whispered, still smirking. "Not a normal Egyptian tunic; one of those more feminine ones." Ryou wasn't sure if Bakura was joking or not, but decided to play along anyway.

"I thought you were straight", he whispered back and smiled an innocent smile. Bakura's grin only grew wider.

"Maybe I've changed by mind." Bakura didn't say anything for a few seconds after that, but soon started laughing. "Sorry. I was joking. You don't have to wear a dress." He seemed to be blushing a bit, though. Ryou didn't know what to make of that.

"Maybe I will", Ryou said, chuckling. "I mean, Otogi keeps saying I look like a girl; maybe he'll shut up if I show up at the party wearing a dress..." He sighed. Otogi and Honda had started teasing him about his feminine looks more regularly since that class bonding activity. Especially Malik had tried to defend him, but he had just become a victim of the teasing too.

"Ryou", Bakura said. "Ignore Otogi. He'll stop if you ignore him. You've got the right to look however you want and he shouldn't decide that."

"Hmm... I guess you're right", Ryou stated and looked into Bakura's eyes. They were unusual; crimson-coloured and sharp, somehow captivating... Bakura looked concerned. Ryou smiled at him and laughed. "But imagine Otogi's face if I wore a dress." Bakura chuckled.

"Don't wear a dress, Ryou."

"You can't stop me!" Ryou said dramatically.

"Are you being serious right now?" Bakura asked suspiciously, while trying to stop himself from laughing.

"Maybe", Ryou said, smiling, not quite sure himself. "I don't really know. What exactly are you going to wear, then?"

"This coat", Bakura said and took the red piece of clothing possessively into his arms. "And a kilt. And some jewellery and make-up. That's all."

"You're not going to wear anything else on your upper body?" Ryou asked, smirking. "Are you that eager to show off your gorgeous chest?" Bakura raised one eyebrow.

"Maybe I am... So what?"

"Never mind", Ryou said, his attempt at teasing clearly fruitless. They remained silent for a while once again after that. "Hey, Bakura?"

"Yes?"

"Do you want to play some RPG's?" Ryou asked. Bakura grinned.

"Gladly."

–

"Have you found any signs yet?" The Egyptian man wearing a white turban and a white robe circled Isis Ishtar's desk while observing her with those sharp eyes of his. Isis didn't know why she referred to him as Egyptian so obsessively; after all, she was Egyptian herself and by no means did she obsess as much over her own nationality as she did over his. Perhaps it was because he was such a reminder of her country's fascinating past.

"No", she replied truthfully and swept her long black hair out of her face. "There are no traces of the other Millennium Items."

"But we know that they are all here somewhere", he stated. "Here in Domino City. We just have to find them. We already have two; finding the other five can hardly be that difficult, can it? What do you say?"

"I know that my father possesses one of them, I'm not sure which, but he guards it like a vicious watchdog", Isis admitted. "He will not let go of it easily."

"That is one down; four to go", the man said.

"Indeed", Isis agreed. "I also suspect that Gozaburo Kaiba might have one. He is a rich man, and would love to have something of such value in his possession."

"And the others?" the man asked, seeming a bit impatient.

"I don't know", Isis said truthfully. "We just have to search for people with connections to Egypt. That is probably the easiest way. Do you have anything else you need me to do?"

"I would like you to find out more about this card game. It seems to have roots in Egyptian mythology, and I suspect that it has some sort of connection to all of this", the man said and tossed something onto Isis's desk. She examined it closer. It was a booster pack of Duel Monsters.

"Shaadi... I think know this game. My brother has a deck with cards like these. He told me it was invented about a decade ago by an American called Maximillion Pegasus", Isis said.

"Thank you, Isis", Shaadi said. And then, he was gone. Isis sighed. That man just came and went as he wanted. She looked at the pack of Duel Monsters on her desk and stuffed it into her pocket. She'd dig deeper into this later. For now, she had work at the museum to do.

* * *

A/N: Yet another chapter with lots of adequate foreshadowing… Now that I'm reading through these earlier chapters before posting them, I'm starting to realise how little I actually had planned while writing them, he he... ^^ But it seems like I've still been subconsciously planning it anyway... ^^ Everybody's preparing for the Halloween party… Gasp! What's that?! Hints of a bigger plot?!

This part about the last year's Halloween party makes me laugh: "Mariku didn't remember much from last year, though. He only remembered that someone had brought alcohol. And that he'd woken up under a table next morning next to Seto Kaiba." I don't know if they have those in other places, but my high school has a yearly unofficial Halloween party where alcohol is allowed. Yeah, even if we're underage. Just so you know I didn't completely make that up. (I've never been to it though :P) Since it's unofficial, you won't find the information anywhere, but we do it here... But it might be just a Finnish thing… Finns and alcohol go together a bit too well... XD

Rishid finally makes his first appearance too. In Yu-Gi-Oh! he was Malik's adoptive brother, but in my fic he's taken the role of Mariku's brother and guardian instead. Oh, and he's obviously had enough of his silly little brother's antics… I mean, come on. You can't help but pity him, when Mariku brings Malik home and shamelessly (and unsuccessfully) flirts with him in front of Rishid… I'm not even going to comment Yuugi's puzzle pendant… (Nothing suspicious at all, nope. Totally JUST a reference to the original Yu-Gi-Oh!... ;) Agh, who am I kidding? XD) Ryou and Bakura are finally getting comfortable with each other… They even do a bit of innocent flirting. Oh, and Amane's jealous. Watch out, Ryou!

And what's this? Isis Ishtar? Millennium Items and Duel Monsters are mentioned? Pegasus's dub name is mentioned?! And SHAADI appears?! Wow. Looks like things are on their way out of the window. Or not OUT of the window yet. More like flying slowly towards the window, but surely to crash it soon and come flying out. (That was a weird metaphor…) Stay tuned, because stuff starts happening in the next chapter. For reals. I swear.


	8. Halloween Confessions

I'm sooo late with this chapter! Sorry! But we had our so-called "test-week" in school last week, and I've just had a busy life in general. I don't like being busy. :P By the way, I have 1.000+ views on this fanfic now! Thank you, everyone! :D Also, a small **warning**: some topics that can be considered sensitive come up in this chapter.

* * *

**Chapter 8 – Halloween Confessions**

The day was finally here. The day that Bakura had been both dreading and looking forward to. The Halloween party would take place this evening. Bakura had locked himself into the bathroom and spent several hours looking over his costume. He was really lucky; that Ryou somehow had acquired a coat that looked almost exactly like his past self's coat had looked back in Ancient Egypt was simply miraculous.

"Interesting coincidence", he mumbled as he looked at himself in the mirror. A pale copy of the King of Thieves looked back at him. Bakura had spent hours trying to flatten down his hair just a bit to make it look more like his past self's, but in the end his white mane of hair had refused to obey his commands and stayed the way it usually was. He had also spent a long time trying to perfectly copy the scar on the Thief King's right cheek with make-up, and it had turned out rather well.

_"__There is no such thing as 'coincidence', Bakura Crawford"_, the voice of the Thief King echoed in his head. Bakura was not sure if he imagined it or not. He looked into his reflection's eyes and felt a bit confused when his eyes were lavender, not crimson, but then he remembered that he had bought coloured contact lenses to make his eyes look more like the Thief King's. He ignored the imaginary voice in his head and pulled on the red Egyptian coat. Combined with the kilt, the jewellery and the Egyptian make-up, his costume was now complete. He hoped that his clothing could help Ryou remember something from his life as Ruya.

Bakura cast a quick glance at the clock. He was late. Pegasus knocked on the bathroom door.

"Are you still in there, Bakura? Don't you have a party to attend?" he shouted. Bakura swore and unlocked the bathroom door. When he stepped out, Pegasus looked at his costume, impressed.

"You've worked hard for this, haven't you?" he mused. "Don't stay out the whole night, and don't drink too much alcohol! You're only seventeen after all; you shouldn't even be drinking at all!"

"I'll be fine", Bakura said, before dashing off to find a pair of shoes.

–

When Bakura arrived at the party at 8.30 PM, half an hour late, he was met by someone rather unexpected.

"What do you want, Otogi?" he growled as he came face to face with Otogi, who looked absolutely ridiculous in something that was probably supposed to make him look Egyptian but made him look more like a Catholic priest.

"I came to inform you that you're late, oh mighty King of Thieves", Otogi said dramatically. Bakura glared at him. "No, but seriously. I was just waiting for someone to arrive with the alcohol. We need to spice this party up a bit, don't you agree?" Bakura didn't reply. He just walked past Otogi into the school. As he expected, all the students were gathered in the school restaurant. The tables had been moved to the sides, the windows had been covered with black drapes, and there was loud pop music playing in the background. Most of the students were dancing to the beat, but some of them were also sitting at the tables.

The first person in his circle of friends whom Bakura spotted was Yuugi. The small boy, dressed as an Egyptian peasant, was sitting alone by a table in a corner, reading a book about Ancient Egypt. That wasn't very surprising. When Bakura sat down beside him, Yuugi flinched slightly.

"Where is everyone else?" Bakura asked.

"Atemu is talking to some girls", Yuugi said, looking a bit neglected. "Mariku is probably doing something crazy, Malik is probably hiding from him somewhere, and Ryou is dancing." Bakura only took real interest in the last bit.

"Ryou is dancing? I would have expected him to sit here with you."

"He did, at first", Yuugi said. "But then he said that he wanted to look for you and disappeared into the crowd." He looked back down into his book and continued reading. "Did you know that Egyptian Pharaohs married their siblings and cousins to keep the bloodline pure?"

"No", Bakura stated in disinterest, before he left Yuugi alone again and went off in search for Ryou.

–

Malik peeked out behind the corner. So many people. He wanted to leave. If he went home now, would anyone notice? Mariku would probably start asking questions. Malik didn't like it when Mariku was being pushy like that. He cast a glance to the right, and then to the left. Mariku was nowhere to be seen. Where was he?

"Good evening", a familiar raspy voice whispered in his ear. Malik almost screamed from the surprise and swung around to see a very smug Mariku standing behind him.

"What do you want now?" Malik asked tiredly. Mariku just looked at him, ice blue eyes unusually analytic.

"Are you all right?" he then asked. Malik was taken aback by the question. He didn't remember when anyone had last asked him that.

"Not really. I'm tired", he replied. "Just really, really tired of everything." He was being honest, for once. Perhaps Mariku would leave him alone if he told the truth. Mariku just smiled at him. It was a sad smile, far from Mariku's usual wicked grins.

"I've been thinking about you. Major depressive disorder. That's what you suffer from, am I right?" he suddenly asked. Malik froze in shock as he heard Mariku state his diagnosis. Why was he even aware of such scientific terms? "Don't worry. I'm not going to tell anyone." Malik felt that if it had been anyone else, he would have panicked. But it was Mariku who had said it, and no one else had heard. For some reason, after the initial shock, Malik felt relieved. Relieved that someone knew about his depression. That someone understood. Even if that someone was Mariku.

"Yes", he confirmed. "I... It's getting better, though. It's not as bad as it was about a year ago. I was diagnosed when we first came to Domino City from Egypt. I had to start taking medicines... My father was furious. He called me weak and pathetic..." Malik felt tears beginning to form in his eyes. He hated crying in front of people; it made him feel weak. But he couldn't help it. "When the summer holidays were over and school began again, I... I was getting better, but it was still bad. I didn't really have any true will to live. But then..." The tears began to actually pour down his cheeks. "...you came along. You wouldn't leave me alone, you made me befriend your friends, and you were so determined... So determined to get to know me..." He took a deep breath to stop himself from starting to sob. "I couldn't understand, at first. I was so angry. Why would anyone want to get to know me?! But for some reason, you five gave me enough determination to keep going... I kept taking my medication... and I finally started getting better. I... I even stopped hurting myself..."

Mariku didn't say anything at first. After a moment of silence, he took Malik's hand into his own and gently rolled up the long red sleeve covering Malik's arm, still not saying a word.

"Those are from months ago", Malik whispered when Mariku ran his fingers over the scars on his arm. "I haven't hurt myself in months... As I said, I'm getting better..." He was surprised by Mariku's gentleness. Mariku didn't seem like a gentle person to him. He seemed more like the type who would avoid these kinds of discussions like the plague. Mariku still didn't speak. Instead, he moved closer to Malik and pulled him into a tight hug. Malik felt a few more tears run down his cheeks and placed his hands awkwardly on Mariku's hips. "Hey... Mariku... Why are you acting like this?"

"I admire your strength", Mariku whispered. "You're so brave..." He let go of Malik and reached out a hand to wipe Malik's tears away. "I would never have dared to tell anyone..." He took a deep breath. "Malik, can I tell you something? It's a secret. Only Rishid knows."

"Of course you can", Malik said, filled with a new-found trust for Mariku. "I won't tell anyone."

"Have I ever mentioned that I was in the hospital for the last few weeks of the last school year?" Mariku asked. Malik nodded.

"You've mentioned it."

"It was because I was... unstable", Mariku said, sighing. "I've had this problem for many years. If I get too emotional or stressed over something, I lose control of myself completely. I was getting more and more stressed because I wasn't doing too well in school, until I broke down completely at the end of the last school year. Sure, you and everyone else might think I'm a bit strange and crazy, but it's nothing compared to what I was like back then. I had complete blackouts whenever I had my attacks of mania, and I could have hurt people. But Rishid forced me to go to the hospital and stay out of school for the last few weeks of the year. I had to see lots of therapists and take heavy medication... They never found a proper diagnosis so the medicine isn't always effective, and I'll never be completely free from this illness... But I'm going to get better too!" He grinned. "Let's get better together, shall we?"

"Sounds good", Malik said, smiling as he took Mariku's hand. Mariku's confession that he too suffered from invisible problems made him feel more confident, both about himself and about Mariku. "Let's go dance."

"Sure", Mariku smirked his characteristic mad smirk. "The dance floor has been missing us."

–

Bakura gulped down yet another can of beer as he scanned the dance floor for Ryou. He had been looking for Ryou for a while now, but he had been distracted when Mai Kujaku had arrived with the alcohol. Apparently she had got it from her older sister. Bakura hadn't planned to drink anything at all, but in the end he had come to the conclusion that he needed the alcohol to calm his nerves. He was feeling very restless, and the beer helped him calm down.

"Where are you, Ryou?" he muttered to himself. Suddenly, a couple of giggling drunk girls approached him. The same group of girls that had already approached him twice this evening. Mai Kujaku, Miho Nosaka and Amane Shiromune. Bakura sighed in irritation.

"Come dance with us, Crawford!" Amane, wearing a revealing outfit, shouted and took hold of his arm. Bakura pushed her off and slipped away without casting a second glance at her. He finally spotted familiar white hair in the crowd and hurried towards Ryou.

"I've been looking everywhere for you!" he hissed as he took hold of Ryou's arm. Ryou spun around and looked at him surprise.

"I've been looking for you too", he said and smiled. "Oh. You're wearing the kilt. And you're shirtless. Let me guess: the girls have been bothering you."

"Yes", Bakura admitted. "Your sister, especially." Ryou sighed and looked very disappointed. That was when Bakura noticed what he was wearing. "What... You're wearing a dress." Ryou was, indeed, wearing a pale blue long tunic that looked almost like a dress. He was also wearing golden jewellery and make-up that made him appear even more feminine. He looked so much like Ruya...

"I told you I would", Ryou said and laughed. He took Bakura's hand. "Come on. Let's dance." Bakura had never been much of a dancer, but when Ryou started dancing to the beat, Bakura found himself following along. The alcohol was affecting him; he felt more bold and daring than usual. Perhaps this was his chance?

"Ryou, there's something I want to tell you", he said, having problems even to hear himself because of the loud music. But Ryou seemed to hear anyway.

"Yes? What is it?" he asked. Bakura noticed Amane and her friends, still laughing about something, approaching them. He'd have to be quick. He placed his hands on Ryou's hips and pulled him closer. This was it. No return now.

"I...have feelings for you. I would like for us to be...more than friends." he whispered, so that only Ryou would hear. Ryou raised his eyebrows.

"Are you drunk, Bakura?" That was not the reaction Bakura had wanted. He almost panicked.

"A bit", he admitted. "But not enough to be sexually confused." Ryou laughed a little. "I... I know what I want. I've liked you since I first laid eyes on you, but it took me such a long time to admit it... Would... Would you like to...?" His ability to speak left him suddenly, as Ryou's smile became even deeper. There was something almost seductive about it. Bakura smiled back, all of his worry suddenly gone, and leant in to kiss him.

Kissing Ryou was unlike anything he had ever experienced before. It reminded Bakura of the euphoria he had felt when he first saw Ryou on the first day of school, only much more powerful. He was only vaguely aware of Ryou's arms wrapping around his waist, and felt his own hands move on their own accord, tangling themselves in Ryou's soft hair. And then Ryou kissed back. A jolt of something that felt like an electric shock was sent through Bakura's body and caused him to shiver with pleasure. It was almost too much for him to handle.

"Ryou", he murmured and drew back, running his hands through Ryou's hair. Ryou just smiled and pressed his lips briefly against Bakura's own once again.

"I'm glad you told me. I... like you too. I just didn't know if I should tell you... But now I can see that hiding feelings is never good..." He took Bakura's hand into his own. "So... Your place or mine?" Bakura was barely able to think; he was still too filled with joy and that same euphoric feeling to be able to form a coherent thought.

"Mine", he replied, not even completely sure what he was agreeing to. Ryou laughed lightly and began leading him out of the school restaurant with quick steps. As they passed many people by, Bakura saw Atemu smiling at him. He also saw Malik and Mariku dancing some sort of crazy couple dance which involved attempting to collide with Otogi at every possible opportunity, and had to laugh at the fact. A thing which he chose to ignore for now was that Amane and Miho were whispering something to each other. Amane looked beyond furious. A worry for later, Bakura foolishly decided.

He and Ryou walked out of the school yard. When they came out of the gates, Ryou stopped.

"I don't know where your home is", he stated awkwardly. "Lead the way?" A cold autumn wind blew over the street, making them both shiver. Bakura wished that he had brought warmer clothes. At least it wasn't a long way to walk. He looked at Ryou and felt deep joy shoot through his entire being. He had succeeded in his confession. He and Ryou were a couple at last. He felt slightly confused; what was he going to do now? What should he even call Ryou? His boyfriend? The word felt so foreign to him.

"You're my boyfriend now", he tried, and found that it actually sounded rather good. Ryou laughed.

"I think you're more than a bit drunk, Bakura. Yes. Yes, I am your boyfriend now. That was what you wanted, wasn't it?" He stood on his toes and kissed Bakura chastely again. Bakura felt another shiver run down his spine, and it wasn't the cold this time. Ryou shuddered. "Brr! It's cold. Let's go to your place already, shall we?"

"Oh. Yes, it's this way", Bakura mumbled as he pulled Ryou down the street towards where he lived. There was a warm bed waiting for the two them, and Bakura had no intention to let it wait any longer. It was as if all the worries in his world had disappeared, now that Ryou was skipping happily alongside him. Bakura didn't know when he had last been this truly, deeply happy.

Neither of them noticed the shadowy shape watching them as they walked down the street.

* * *

A/N: THEY KISSED! :D Bakura and Ryou; a couple at last! Or actually, it's very early. This fic is 40+ chapters long, and they get together in chapter 8. That may sound weird, but I'm escaping yet another cliché by doing this. 40+ chapters of sexual tension gets tiring, repetitive, and worst of all, boring. Especially when it's already clear that they both like each other. Spending dozens of chapters playing around with that just gets lame. Ryou and Bakura getting together is just where the real story starts… and I really wanted to move on to other parts of the story. There is still a lot left to explore with Ryou's and Bakura's characters, and it will be done best if they are a couple already.

Mariku and Malik also get a strong scene together, revealing their secrets to one another… Now, I'm just going to make this clear and admit some stuff about my personal life here. I have NEVER suffered from a depression huge enough to make me feel suicidal and I've never hated myself. I can only imagine what that feels like. At the time when I first wrote this chapter back in spring, however, a person who is VERY close to me was in the middle of a heavy depression. They weren't suicidal, but they self-harmed and were going through a really hard time. They also felt that the only person they could talk to about it was me. So there I was, a person with empath traits, the only person in the world who knew what this person close to me was going through. Because of this, combined with the stress from school, I had anxiety attacks and cried a lot, and at the time, writing this fic was one of the only things that could make me relax. Basically, I hated my life (not myself; just the stuff that happened around me) and I realise now that I was actually going through a small kind-of depression myself. Luckily, the person close to me went to get help in time, got medication, and they are doing much better today. And now that they are doing better, so am I. :) And as you can see, all that shit that happened to me back in spring affected my writing a lot. Writing Malik as a person recovering from a depression worked as motivation for me.

Mariku, on the other hand… I tried doing research on different disorders that would fit his behaviour now and later on in the fic… but in the end I decided to make it undefined because I didn't find anything that was accurate and I also didn't want to insult any existing people with that certain disorder because of certain things Mariku does later in the fic that are caused by his mental instability... :/

I was supposed to write a sex scene at the end. I really was. Hey, come on. They're both seventeen years old. I'm not sure what the legal age of consent is in Japan (I think it's 13, though…), but they're above it for sure. And face it: in the end, they're horny teenage boys. ;) But… I couldn't write that scene. I wanted to try, but I knew I'd just screw it up. I'm just going to shamelessly admit that I am a very awkward virgin AND an asexual woman, and I would thus have no idea of what sex between two men works like except from the fanfiction I've read, and I don't trust that as a valid source.

Also, plot starts happening in the next chapter. And even more in the chapter after that. Look forward to it.


	9. Consequences

And the story continues on! I'm so glad to see that everyone is enjoying the story so far ^^ Please enjoy and tell me what you think when you're done. :)

* * *

**Chapter 9 – Consequences**

When Ryou woke up, he wondered if everything had been a dream. It all felt so unlikely. Had Bakura really confessed that he held feelings for Ryou? Had they actually kissed? Had Ryou actually followed Bakura home in the evening and...?

The first thing Ryou noticed that confirmed the reality of this unlikely scenario, was that he wasn't wearing any clothes, which was definitely odd because he always wore pyjamas when he went to bed. Also, he felt a bit sore, and this bed didn't feel quite like his own... At this realisation, he became wide awake in an instance, and sat up immediately. He rubbed his eyes and blinked to regain eyesight in his tired eyes. The first thing he saw was Bakura, naked, sleeping soundly beside him.

"...Bakura?" Ryou whispered in disbelief. So it hadn't been a dream. It was all real. Last night had actually happened. Bakura shifted slightly, groaned, sat up and opened his eyes. When he first looked at Ryou, he seemed really surprised. For a second, Ryou was frightened. What if Bakura had just done this because he had been drunk or something like that? But Ryou's worry faded as Bakura smiled a tired, uncharacteristic smile and leant in to wrap his arms around Ryou.

"Good morning", Bakura said and kissed Ryou softly on the lips. Ryou kissed back and ran his hands over Bakura's back. His life felt perfect right now. Nothing could get better than this.

"Good morning", Ryou replied softly. His gaze happened to slip past Bakura, towards the door to Bakura's room, where a gaping Pegasus J. Crawford stood, watching them in shock. Ryou yelped and jerked back in surprise. Bakura turned around to see what all the fuss was about and stared at his father in horror.

"What's going on here, I wonder?" Pegasus covered up his surprise with a smile. "Is this what I think it is?" Bakura glared at him.

"As a matter of fact... Yes, it is. Don't you dare say anything", he hissed. Pegasus just laughed.

"I've made breakfast for you. Come down to the kitchen when you're ready." With that, he exited the room, leaving Ryou and Bakura alone, both of them still in shock.

"He seemed to take that rather well", Ryou stated after a moment of silence.

"He's been suspecting that I like you for a while", Bakura replied. Ryou laughed.

"Were you that obvious?"

"Apparently." Bakura got out of bed and started looking through his closet for some clothes to put on. "Hey, do you want to borrow some clothes? Or do you want to walk around wearing an Ancient Egyptian dress for the rest of the day?" Ryou chuckled and shook his head.

"No more dresses."

–

Pegasus J. Crawford couldn't resist a smile as he placed two plates with bacon and eggs on the table. He was very happy for Bakura, after all. He had noticed his son acting strangely over the last few weeks and had suspected that it was because of Ryou. He had always noticed that Bakura seemed to have a problem with committing himself to relationships, and had been sure that Bakura just needed to find the right person for him. The fact that this person could be a boy didn't bother Pegasus at all. The only disappointment was that he wouldn't be getting grandchildren. Although, of course, Bakura and Ryou could always adopt children... Pegasus almost started laughing at the thought of Bakura being a father to young children. His poor son would be so confused! Ryou would probably make a good parent though, Pegasus mused.

His thoughts were interrupted by said son and his boyfriend (Was it OK for Pegasus to call him that?) entering the kitchen. Pegasus gave them a warm smile, and Ryou, wearing a pair of Bakura's old jeans and an old yellow sweater, smiled back. Even Bakura, wearing the red coat from his Halloween costume on top of his usual spare time clothing (a blue and white shirt and black jeans), managed a small twitch of the corner of his mouth which could have counted as a smile, which was certainly unusual. Ryou really WAS a good influence on him, Pegasus decided.

"Take a seat", he said and gestured towards the table. "Breakfast is served." Bakura and Ryou both sat down and started eating. Pegasus sat down opposite them and observed the two of them for a while. Except for the uncertain glances towards each other at random intervals, they showed no signs of being anything more than friends. This really was different, Pegasus realised. Bakura had sometimes brought girls home before Ryou came along, and on those occasions, Bakura and the current girlfriend had hardly been able to keep their hands off each other. In other words, Bakura's relationships with girls had always been much more physical. Perhaps Bakura saw something different in Ryou? Pegasus didn't know.

"Thanks for making breakfast, Mr Crawford", Ryou said softly, interrupting Pegasus's train of thoughts. "I mean, you didn't even know that I was here, and-"

"It's all right", Pegasus interrupted. "It's wonderful to have you here, Ryou. Have you two been...involved for a long time? Have I somehow... missed anything?"

"Since yesterday, so no", Bakura suddenly broke into the conversation. "And it's not really your business." Pegasus sighed at his son's stubbornness.

"Bakura, I'm sorry to break this to you, but YES, it is my business", he retorted, and turned back to Ryou. "Did you ask him out, or did he ask you?" It was easier getting answers from Ryou. At least he seemed to be relatively open to parental figures, unlike Bakura, who always had to act rebellious.

"He asked me at the party yesterday", Ryou said with a smile. "But I had actually been thinking of asking him, too. I was too worried that it would destroy our friendship if I did." Pegasus had to be a bit impressed. That Bakura had asked Ryou to have a relationship with him, despite the fact that it was at the Halloween party where the entire school could have seen it... That was unusually bold, even for him... When Pegasus turned to Bakura to compliment him, he noticed that Bakura was no longer sitting on his chair. Instead, he was pouring headache pills out of the small bottle standing beside the stove. And so, Pegasus understood, and suddenly felt very annoyed with his son.

"Bakura, don't tell me you drank alcohol at the party last night", he said, sighing. That explained Bakura's sudden confidence to do something so risky. Bakura glared at him as he swallowed the pills.

"It wasn't much, and I needed it for the confidence", he replied boldly. So he had already been planning to ask Ryou out? His decision hadn't been horribly affected by the alcohol, then.

"In that case, I guess I'm the first to hear about your relationship", Pegasus stated, deciding to change the subject for now. He could scold Bakura for drinking later. Ryou nodded and looked a bit unsure, as if he was debating something. However, he soon seemed to make up his mind. He got out of the chair and walked over to take Bakura's hand.

"I want to tell Mum", he explained as his fingers entwined with Bakura's own. "Would you be okay with that?" Pegasus was intrigued by how quickly Bakura's facial features softened when he looked at Ryou, and had to smile when he saw Bakura nod quietly.

"All right. We can go to your place and tell her."

–

Mrs Hikari Shiromune was worried. The reason? She hadn't seen her son since last evening. She had woken up in the morning, checked in his room and found that he wasn't there. He had left his phone at home. Mrs Shiromune had tried asking Amane, who was still in bed with something that was clearly a hangover, but that hadn't helped much at all.

"I don't remember what happened last night, Mum... Please, I feel ill... Leave me alone..." Mrs Shiromune hadn't realised that there would be alcohol at the Halloween party. If she had known, she would probably not have let Ryou and Amane go to the party. She was so worried about Ryou. What if he had got really drunk and something had happened to him? On the other hand, Mrs Shiromune didn't think Ryou would've drunk alcohol even if it had been offered to him. But Amane had still drunk alcohol even though Mrs Shiromune hadn't expected that to happen. She was starting to panic; who should she call? She had only lived in Domino for a few months and didn't know many people yet!

She was pulled out of her thoughts when she heard the front door opening. She quickly hurried into the hallway and felt a great wave of relief when she saw her son standing in the doorway, wearing someone else's clothes, looking slightly sheepish.

"Ryou! I was worried!" She ran up to him and hugged him. "I thought something happened to you!"

"I'm sorry, Mum", Ryou replied, looking very genuinely sorry. "I forgot. I didn't think about it at all. I'm really, truly sorry." Mrs Shiromune just smiled at her humble son.

"It's all right, Ryou", she said. "Just don't do it again, please." That was when she spotted Bakura Crawford standing behind Ryou, still outside on the porch. "Oh dear, do come in, Bakura." Her son's friend seemed unusually introvert; over the last few months Mrs Shiromune had got to see that Bakura had quite an interesting personality, with all his sarcasm and negative attitude which he used to shield himself from others. But today, he was just... quiet, as if he was nervous. Bakura nodded at her words and stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

"Mum, there's something Bakura and I need to tell you", Ryou said, suddenly sounding worried as well. Mrs Shiromune wondered what could have happened to make her son so nervous. He usually told her everything without hesitation.

"All right. Just come into the living room and we can talk", she said gently, taking the lead into the Shiromune household's big living room. She took a seat in one of the two couches in the room, and Ryou and Bakura sat down in the other so that they were facing her. "What did you want to tell me, dear?" Ryou took a deep breath, and Mrs Shiromune noticed that Bakura took Ryou's hand, as if to give him support. All this tension made her feel nervous too.

"Mum... Bakura and I... We're..." Ryou stuttered, but quickly regained composure. "We're a couple. Bakura asked me out yesterday, and I... I said yes. He's my boyfriend."

"...Oh." That was certainly not what Mrs Shiromune had expected to hear. She didn't know what to reply to that. Sure, she remembered the day when Ryou had told her that he was homosexual, but she had always assumed that he believed that because he wasn't interested in dating girls, and that it was just a phase and he would grow out of it. Accepting it had been easier when it hadn't been such a concrete thing; it had been a statement one evening by the kitchen table, nothing more. But now, when Mrs Shiromune saw Bakura Crawford sitting beside her son on the couch, the two of them holding hands, she didn't know what to think at all.

"Mum?" Ryou inquired, sounding worried. "What's wrong?" Mrs Shiromune had looked forward to the day when Ryou would come home with a girl, saying that he had changed his mind and was just going to be a normal heterosexual boy who was going to marry a heterosexual girl and have children with her. She had never mentioned this to Ryou, of course, but now that small thought had been crushed. Mrs Shiromune looked at Ryou, and then at Bakura. Then back at Ryou again.

"I... I don't know what to say, Ryou. This is very sudden. Are you sure-" she began, but she was interrupted.

"Yes, I'm sure of this, Mum", Ryou said, sounding unusually determined. "I like Bakura. I like him a lot. More than I've ever liked anyone before. I... I love him, Mum." Mrs Shiromune needed some time to think this through. This was quickly becoming too much of a shock to cope with all at once. She was about to scold Ryou for saying something like that, to say that he loved someone he had been dating since last night, but she decided that she didn't want to take that up in front of Bakura, who had shuffled closer to Ryou and wrapped his arm around Ryou's waist.

"I see... I'll go make you some tea", she said, got off the couch and headed towards the kitchen. She needed to distract herself with something.

–

As his mother retreated into the kitchen, Ryou felt a desire to get up and follow her. What was wrong? He had thought that she had accepted that he liked boys a long time ago! But obviously, this had shocked her. Maybe she hadn't thought that he was serious? Ryou sighed. He felt Bakura's both arms wrap around his waist and expected to hear some comforting words, but Bakura just leant his head on Ryou's shoulder and said nothing. Perhaps he was upset too...

"You said that you loved me." The words came suddenly and unexpectedly. "I don't think anyone's ever said that to me before. Well, except Pegasus but that was parental." Bakura lifted his head from Ryou's shoulder and looked straight into Ryou's eyes. "Did you mean it, or was it just something you said to convince your mother?" Ryou felt a bit startled by the question.

"What do you mean? I wouldn't have agreed to date you if I didn't love you!" he replied. Bakura shook his head, not looking into Ryou's eyes any more.

"I... Nothing. It's nothing." But he didn't fool anyone with those words. Ryou was beginning to get a bit worried. Had he something wrong? Perhaps he had been too hasty with mentioning love... Maybe Bakura hadn't been ready for that yet? Maybe Bakura was the kind of person who had problems with showing affection? Wait, scratch the 'maybe'; Bakura WAS the kind of person who had problems with showing affection. Ryou sighed.

"Bakura, you can tell me what's wrong."

"It's just-" Bakura actually looked a bit scared when he raised his head to meet Ryou's gaze. "I'm not used to this. I'm worried. What will everyone think? They'll look down on us; they'll-"

"Since when do you care about the opinions of others?" Ryou interrupted.

"Since I became part of an oppressed minority!" Bakura snapped back, sounding angry. He quickly seemed to regret his outburst, and drew back from Ryou. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"Are you getting cold feet, Bakura?" Ryou asked, feeling unusually bold. "Do you want to get out of this relationship now that you've realised the full extent of what it means for your social status?" Bakura looked startled by Ryou's harsh question.

"I didn't mean it like that", he muttered. "I'm just unsure. About myself, not about us." He moved closer to Ryou again and wrapped his arms around him. "Sorry. I really want this, Ryou. You're right. This is more important than what others think. YOU are more important." He kissed Ryou softly and hugged him tightly. "Please, forgive me."

"It's okay. You haven't done anything wrong." Ryou hugged Bakura back. "I understand that this isn't easy for you. We'll get through this together, okay?" He looked into Bakura's eyes. Bakura looked so sad, so worried... but Ryou could still see some happiness shine through as Bakura nodded. Ryou leant in to kiss Bakura. "Then let me say this to you directly. I love you, Bakura." Bakura grinned, cheering up a bit, and was quick to take control of the kiss and pushed Ryou down to his back, which almost led to a full make-out session, but Ryou pushed Bakura off him before anything remotely interesting happened.

"What's wrong now?" Bakura asked, raising one eyebrow.

"Let's not shock Mum too much", Ryou said, smiling. "We need to give her time to get used to this." Bakura laughed.

"That's true."

At that moment, Ryou had almost stopped worrying for a second. But he then cast a glance past Bakura and was very surprised by what -or rather, who- he saw. Amane had been on her way into the living room, but she had frozen in her steps and seemed to have been standing in the same spot for a while now. She looked very tired. Ryou guessed that she had drunken a lot more alcohol than necessary last night. Her face showed an expression of surprise and very clear disgust. Ryou felt his entire being go cold. His sister, his dear sister, had never before looked at him with such contempt. Yet... Was there a glimpse of jealousy in his sister's eyes?

"I hate you", Amane mouthed viciously before quietly disappearing into the hallway. Ryou looked back at Bakura, who seemed a bit confused. He hadn't noticed Amane.

"What's wrong, Ryou?"

"Nothing", Ryou lied and leant back into Bakura's arms.

Despite what one might have thought at first sight, Ryou had always been a good liar.

* * *

A/N: Ryou's mother's reaction to Ryou and Bakura being a couple is, in a way, based off something that happened to me once. It was... last year, in spring, I think? I was very confused over my disinterest in everything sexual and I confided in my mother about it, and she told me it was okay, and that it didn't matter to her if I never married/found a significant other... But then, a while later, when I FINALLY realised I was asexual and solved all my inner conflicts of my sexuality and wanted to tell my trustworthy mother of this, she wouldn't believe me and told me that I'm apparently "not mature enough" to decide that yet, and that it's just a phase, that it's not real, etc, etc... She also told me not to tell anyone about it, because if I do, I will be alone forever... Well, screw you, Mum. Straight people never have to go through this bullshit. I'm telling the entire Internet. I'M ASEXUAL AND PROUD OF IT. And if it's just a phase, well... Then it is. It doesn't stop me from being a proud ace here and now.

...I think I got a bit off-topic. ^^ Anyway, Ryou's mother's reaction is kind of based on my mother's reaction to my coming-out, except that my mum took it better than Ryou's, in the end.

Seriously though, another thing that annoys me in many High School AU fics is that the reactions are too unrealistic. Hikari Shiromune reacts like some (or maybe even most) parents would. She only wants the best for her son because she knows that homosexual people are hated by society. Of course it's cruel of her, but it's understandable from my point of view at least. And Amane's just being homophobic and jealous. I mean, come on, female readers, how would you feel if your brother hooks up with the guy you like? Pissed off, for sure. (Or maybe you're more selfless than Amane and would be happy for the two of them...)

Pegasus is another story altogether. He's just happy for his son and Ryou. Now, remember that many Japanese people are very conservative, and Pegasus is from America. Sure, there are lots of conservative Americans too, but let's say Pegasus is from some more liberal and accepting state. (I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know ANYTHING AT ALL about American states and their different political opinions… I'm European. Blame that.)

But they're a couple at last! Rejoice! Finally… But Bakura's and Ryou's problems have only begun, and there's a reason this fic is labelled Fantasy/Romance. The Fantasy part is coming now, and it will swallow up the entire story. The Romance isn't going to disappear though. Just be pushed out of the way a little. Next chapter, things start getting mysterious… I can't write the Romance genre without mixing in something more. I've learnt that now.

Also, from next chapter on, I'm going to start doing something really cool. I'm going to start drawing a new cover for every new chapter I post. c:


	10. That Night

I'm back again, with a really late chapter! Sorry, I live a busy life. ^^ But from this chapter on, I'll do covers for every new chapter, which is going to be a lot of fun! Can you see the chapter cover? I've never posted a cover for a fic before; I hope it works... O_O Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Please tell me what you think. :)

* * *

**Chapter 10 – That Night**

Now, we need to go back in time for a while. Bakura and Ryou weren't the only ones to experience unexpected events on that Saturday night after the Halloween party. It would later seem to all of their friends that there was something mysterious going on during that night; something that led them all on an unexpected path. Perhaps they could blame the supposed 'magic' of Halloween night, perhaps it was destiny, or perhaps it was just a coincidence.

"Mariku, I'm tired." Malik yawned. "I really should be getting home... What... What time is it?" Mariku turned around and spotted the clock on the wall even in the darkness of the partying room.

"It's half past eleven", he stated as he turned back to Malik. Malik's eyes widened in shock.

"I should have been home eleven o'clock!" he shouted in horror. "I've got to go!" He dashed out of the room, pushing a very drunk Otogi out of his way as he went. Mariku stared after him. Time had went far too fast. He had to admit that this party had been a lot of fun. A lot more fun than it would have been without Malik, at least. Mariku hadn't seen Bakura and Ryou since the earlier hours of the party, Yuugi was reading in a corner, while Atemu was discussing something with Anzu Mazaki and had been doing so for several hours.

"Malik, wait!" Mariku shouted and followed him out. Malik stopped just by the door leading out to the school yard and looked at him in surprise. "I can escort you home! One shouldn't walk alone this late at night!" Malik seemed to consider it.

"Well... Okay. You can do that."

"Where do you live? You've never mentioned it", Mariku said as they walked out of the school yard and onto the dark street. It was cold, and the wind made Mariku feel chills down his spine. He noticed that Malik was also shivering.

"You'll see for yourself when we get there", Malik replied sharply. They walked on for a while, not saying anything. Mariku found himself thinking about Malik's depression. He had suspected that something was off with Malik for a while. He had even started making research on mental disorders and eventually come to the conclusion. He didn't know what had made him tell Malik about his own problems with his mental health. He had, after all, kept it a secret from everyone when he had first found out about it. Even Bakura, his best friend, didn't know about it. Only Rishid knew. Only Rishid could be trusted with such an important fact. And apparently Malik too, from now on...

"I trust you", Mariku mumbled, half to himself, observing Malik casually. Malik looked at him in confusion. "I mean it. I really trust you. I've told you something that only Rishid knew about before I told you." Malik chuckled.

"And you know something about me that only two other people knew about before so... I guess were even", he stated. They walked on. "Hey, Mariku?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you. You've helped me a lot. You and the others. It means a lot to me." Malik smiled warmly. Seeing him smile thrilled Mariku. When he smiled, he was beautiful... Mariku grimaced. This was probably the only time he had tried to ignore that he fancied someone. However, that didn't seem to help at all; instead it just made everything worse. The fact that Mariku was such an impulsive individual who was also periodically plagued by mania made everything EVEN worse. He managed a smirk despite it all.

"No need to thank me", he replied. God, this emotional stuff was hard. "I... I like spending time around you too." Malik grinned at his words, but quickly became serious again.

"I'm glad to hear that... We've almost reached my home now..." He looked into the ground as they walked, seeming a bit embarrassed. "I've been thinking about something for a while... Do you remember that day when we had to bond with our classmates? You... You mentioned having a crush on me." Mariku stopped dead in his tracks. This was not a topic of discussion that he desired. Malik stopped too and turned around to face him. "How come?" The question confused Mariku.

"What do you mean?"

"Why would anyone have a crush on me?" Malik looked at Mariku expectantly. Mariku didn't understand how Malik could be so casual about something like this. Mariku felt like his legs and his brain had stopped working; he didn't know what to do. The first thing he did was to start walking again; to draw his attention to something else. Malik followed along without questions.

"Um... You're really gorgeous", Mariku stuttered. When had his usual confidence disappeared? "That was what first got my attention... and... well..." He coughed embarrassedly. "Once I got to know you, I just started liking you more and more because you're such a great person, and... well..." He looked up at Malik, not knowing what else to say. "I can't help liking you, really." Malik nodded awkwardly, also at a loss of words.

"I... I see. I didn't think you'd actually answer my question", he stated. "It's nice to hear that you like me, but..." He sighed. "...I don't think I can handle a relationship. It's just... I've never had a relationship with anyone before, and... my family is very conservative when it comes to... things like that." He looked directly into Mariku's eyes. "It's not about you! It really isn't! It's just... I can't handle it. Not now. Sorry." Mariku didn't want to be disappointed. He really didn't. Malik's explanation was completely rational. But there was still a tiny part of his heart that broke from Malik's rejection, a part that didn't believe Malik's explanation.

"It's all right", Mariku said, trying to convince himself just as much as he was trying to convince Malik, as they turned and walked down a dark alley. "I don't have any right to force you into anything! You probably think I'm disgusting enough either way..." He felt his hands tremble and curled them into fists in an attempt to calm himself. No, he told himself. He was not going to lose his temper. Not now. Then Malik would truly begin to despise him.

"This is where I live", Malik said suddenly and stopped. Mariku forgot about his disappointment for a moment and looked at the building in front of them. It certainly wasn't a home with high quality, so to speak. Malik lived in an apartment building which clearly had seen better days. Mariku was busy eyeing the building when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him. "And I don't think you're disgusting." It took a second for Mariku to comprehend the fact that Malik was hugging him. "You're wonderful, really. You're so fun to be around, such a powerful personality, and actually nice once one gets to know you." Malik looked at Mariku and grinned. "Not to mention you're really handsome."

"...Oh?" Mariku didn't know how to react to this sudden turn of events. So... Malik didn't hate him, then. That was good. He told himself not to keep hoping, but that was very hard, as Malik chose that precise moment to kiss Mariku, first on the left cheek, and then on the right. Mariku was aware that Malik had grown up in Egypt, where kissing someone on the cheeks could possibly be an entirely non-romantic gesture, but Mariku hadn't lived in Egypt since he was five and had had no contact with Egyptian culture since then, so he couldn't be sure. Mariku didn't blush; he wasn't the kind of person to blush easily. Instead, he just stared at Malik in shock. Malik chuckled.

"Good night, Mariku." With that, he opened the door that led into his home, and disappeared. Mariku stood rooted on the same spot for a few seconds, feeling a bit confused. What exactly had just happened? However, when it became clear that nothing else was going to happen, he sighed and turned on his heel to head home.

As Mariku headed down the dark and not-so-homely street, he saw strange shadows dancing on the walls of the houses. At first he dismissed them as hallucinations (But he HAD taken his medication this morning! What was wrong?) but when he heard the whispering, he became genuinely worried.

"_The Darkness Is Coming... The Darkness Is Coming... He Is Returning... He Is Returning..." _several intertwined disembodied voices whispered. Men, women, children... Mariku backed away as the shadows slipped closer to him. "_The Time Is Drawing Nearer..."_

"Who's there?" Mariku hissed, glaring into the darkness. "Bakura? Atemu? If this is some kind of joke, I'll kill you!" For a second, Mariku thought he saw a lavender-robed figure in the darkness. The voices laughed.

"_You Threaten To Kill Us, Assassin? Fool. You Cannot Kill What Is Already Dead." _Something ice-cold touched his face. Mariku spun around and caught a glimpse of clear lavender eyes and silver jewels for one second. Then, he felt someone breathe in his neck. Horrified, Mariku turned around and found nothing there.

Mariku had never considered himself a coward. When faced with eventual supernatural occurrences, retreat was the best thing to do. That was what he told himself as he ran down the street as fast as he could, only wanting to get home. He had never been this frightened in his life.

–

Atemu had gone out for a walk. Sure, that was a little bit strange. I mean, what kind of person goes out for a walk at twelve o'clock in the night? He had just escorted Yuugi home as he had planned all along, but had decided to take a walk afterwards. Atemu liked the night. It was calm and serene most of the time, and really gave him a good opportunity to sort out his thoughts. He was still dressed in his Egyptian costume, of course, as he hadn't had time to swap it for something else, so it was a bit cold. However, it didn't matter to Atemu. He liked the way his cloak fluttered in the wind. It made him feel nostalgic, somehow. Perhaps the feeling came from a previous life? Atemu didn't know.

His thoughts were interrupted when he saw a person step out of an alley out onto the street, blocking Atemu's path. This stranger was an exotic-looking man wearing a white robe and a turban. His blank eyes stared at Atemu intensely, and he smiled mysteriously. Then he walked towards Atemu.

"Greetings", the man said with an Egyptian accent. "My name is Shaadi. Your name would not happen be Atemu, would it? Interesting coincidence. I did not think that you would be the one I was looking for."

"...Who are you?" Atemu asked suspiciously. He did not trust strangers. Strangers were often after Uncle Gozaburo's money. They wouldn't hesitate to kidnap Atemu if they thought that it gave them a chance to get paid for it. Atemu started regretting that he went out for a walk.

"I am here to offer you a deal", Shaadi replied, smiling ominously. "Give me the Puzzle."

"And if I don't?" Atemu asked, carefully playing along. He didn't have the slightest clue what 'puzzle' the stranger was talking about, but hoped that everything would reveal itself eventually. He felt worried. He had always enjoyed playing mind games, but he had a feeling that he was in grave danger right now. Shaadi looked at him, not seeming to notice how clueless Atemu really was.

"I will have to take it by force", the strange man then replied. "I have the Key. You know very well what its powers can do. Shall we start the Shadow Game?" He pulled out something from his robe; a big golden key shaped like an ankh. At once, Atemu realised what the man wanted. The pyramid-shaped pendant hanging around his neck; the one Yuugi had given him, the one that seemed to consist of puzzle pieces... Atemu felt his muscles tense as Shaadi pointed the strange ankh-shaped item at him. Something was very wrong. But right then, a scream echoed through the night and footsteps came closer. Shaadi lowered the item and looked at Atemu. "We will meet again", he said, and vanished into thin air. Literally. He just disappeared on the spot. He probably didn't want anyone else to see him. Atemu was left alone, very confused.

"Atemu!" someone screamed. The same voice that had screamed a moment ago. Atemu looked up. Mariku was running down the street towards him, looking genuinely frightened. "I've seen... something really strange!" He took a deep, shuddering breath. Atemu had never seen Mariku scared before. It was not a pleasant sight.

"Me too, Mariku", he stated. "Me too." Mariku looked confused. "There was a man... A very odd man. Egyptian, I think. I think he wanted this. Yuugi gave it to me." He showed Mariku the pendant. "What happened to you? Did someone come after you too?" Mariku took another deep breath, laughed maniacally, clearly in hysterics, and shook his head.

"I think... I think I've seen ghosts."

–

"You're late, son." It was a statement devoid of all emotion. Malik flinched.

"Yes. I apologise, father. It was not my intention", he said and lowered his gaze, not meeting his father's eyes. "Where is Isis?" he then asked, feeling worried. He had thought his sister would be home by now. If she wasn't, there was nothing to protect him from his father's wrath.

"She is working late at the museum tonight", Malik's father replied, his face still like an emotionless mask. "Now tell me, son, who was that boy outside?"

"Um..." Malik began. Had his father seen him with Mariku outside? Not good. Not good at all. "He is my classmate. He escorted me home. He thought that the streets are unsafe. I... let him. He is a very stubborn individual..."

"I thought I told you not to let anyone know where you live", his father stated, his gaze getting sterner by the minute. "What you have done is not acceptable, Malik." Malik swallowed nervously. His father didn't usually call him by name. When he did, it was always a sign of something bad.

"I apologise", Malik murmured, even though he knew it was too late. Malik's father smirked.

"It is too late for that now. I shall have to teach you a lesson, Malik." Malik saw his father pull something out of a drawer, caught a glimpse of something sharp and golden, and almost screamed. He knew what was coming, and knew that he was helpless to stop it.

As Malik went to bed that night, he felt like there was only one thing he was sure of right now; that he had to get revenge on his father for these almost seventeen years of hell.

–

"Grandpa, I'm home!" Yuugi called as he stepped into the Kame Game Shop. Of course, he wasn't sure if his grandpa was still awake, since it was almost midnight, but it was an automatic thing to say whenever he stepped got home.

"Yuugi? Is that you?" his grandpa's voice echoed from behind a shelf. Sugoroku Mutou, a short man in his early seventies, poked his head out from behind the shelf, looking very worried.

"Grandpa? Are you still awake? Did you stay up to wait for me?" Yuugi asked, feeling a bit nervous. His grandpa was usually such a cheerful man who never worried about a thing, but now there was tension in Sugoroku's eyes.

"You were at the Halloween party, am I right?" Yuugi's grandpa asked sternly and stepped out into open sight. He was dressed in his nightwear, but even though he looked rather silly, Yuugi couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated. He nodded sheepishly. "And that party had an Ancient Egyptian theme?" Yuugi nodded again. He had a feeling that he knew where this interrogation was going. "Yuugi, have you seen a pyramid-shaped pendant in a golden necklace?"

"Um... No", Yuugi lied. He hoped that his grandpa would think that he was being honest as usually. Yuugi didn't want to get into trouble. On Monday, he would ask Atemu to give it back, and then Yuugi would place it in some strange place and pretend to find it; maybe convince Sugoroku that it was just his memory was getting worse. "How so?" His grandpa looked at him seriously.

"Because if that pendant ever leaves this house, we will be in great danger."

–

"Isis? Have you discovered anything more about the card game?"

"Duel Monsters? Yes, Shaadi, I have. It appears to have a heavy connection to the so-called Spirit Monsters that our ancestors used. The cards also appear to be filled with dangerous amounts of Shadow Magic..."

"Have you found out who is responsible for the creation of this game yet?"

"It seems to have been created by a man known as Maximillion Pegasus. However, it appears to be a fake name. I have tried searching for him, and I've come to the conclusion that he probably resides somewhere in Domino City."

"So... This is where everything will conclude, then? In a city in Japan... How unexpected. What is the situation with the Items? I failed to acquire the Puzzle."

"And I still don't have my father's Item. We shall have to be more careful from now on."

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A/N: This is one of my favourite early chapters. Bakura and Ryou don't make any appearances at all, but it was really fun to focus on writing the other main characters too, once in a while. It's also becoming clear now that something strange and mysterious is going on. Something… called… the plot. The real plot of this fanfic. Or to be completely honest, I'm not really sure which part of this fic is the REAL plot. It consists of so many intertwined subplots that I'm not even sure any more... XD

Mariku and Malik are interesting to write. Mariku is still after Malik, but Malik doesn't want a relationship… Their relationship this far has mainly been pushed to the side and Mariku's infatuation has worked as a bit of comic relief, but that's slowly changing now. We also get to see what Malik's home life is like. Malik's father is as much a jerk as ever… Poor Malik. Even in AU's, his life just sucks. Even when he's living in a lousy apartment in Japan rather than in an old tomb in Egypt, his father is still a bastard. Regretting what I did with Malik's father a bit. I feel that I could have made him a more interesting character in this AU... Well, it's not like he's that much of an important character anyway. Maybe I'll explore his character more in another fic. Some day. Later.

On more plot-related notes, Mariku also meets something that seems like ghosts, while Atemu has a run-in with Shaadi, who seems to know something Atemu doesn't. And Yuugi's grandfather isn't happy with the Puzzle being gone… And meanwhile, Bakura and Ryou are at Bakura's place, enjoying themselves, oblivious to what has been happening to their friends… In the next chapter, they'll be the main characters again, so don't worry, Tender fans! They'll be back soon! (And Ryou is going to be the center of attention!)


	11. Otogi Gets Owned

Hi everyone! Here comes Chapter number 11! This story now has over 2.000 views! Thanks a lot! ^^ Please, when you're done, leave a review to tell me what you think! ^^

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**Chapter 11 – Otogi Gets Owned**

Monday was here, once again. As Bakura rushed into the classroom about a minute before the first lesson was supposed to start, he immediately sensed a change of atmosphere. Everyone toned their voices down, and Bakura could feel everyone's gaze on him. He spotted Ryou at the usual seat in the back of the class, felt relieved, walked past everyone without looking at them and sat down beside Ryou. The two of them made no eye contact with each other as their classmates observed them curiously, but once Pegasus came in and caught everyone's attention, they could attempt a quiet conversation.

"Otogi and Honda have been giving me strange looks all morning", Ryou whispered. "I think Amane must have told them about us, that is, if they didn't notice at the party... Amane is really angry; she hasn't talked to me at all for the last few days. I think she's really mad at me for ruining her chances to go out with you."

"Hasn't your mother told her off?"

"No." Ryou shook his head. "She hasn't spoken to me about this since I told her about it. She changes the subject when I try to bring it up. It's like she's ignoring what happened completely."

"I'm sorry", Bakura said, actually meaning it for once. "I didn't think they'd react this badly. If I had known..." He stopped talking, not knowing what to say. Would he still have confessed to Ryou if he had known that this would result in splitting Ryou's family apart? Bakura had been naïve, he now realised. He had thought that if only he could put aside his own inner conflicts, he would be happy with Ryou. But now, they were both facing the outside world while still not being entirely used to their relationship...

"It's not your fault", Ryou said and smiled despite looking sad. "They'll get used to it eventually." However, Bakura wasn't feeling so confident.

–

They got away with everything until lunch break. Bakura and Ryou were confronted by some very curious and eager friends under the big cherry tree on the school yard.

"Hey, Bakura~" Mariku whined. "Why didn't you tell me about this? I'm your best friend! Best friends are supposed to know when you like someone~"

"I hope you realise how girly you're sounding right now", Bakura replied sourly. He then noticed something unusual about Mariku. Didn't he... look a bit more feminine than usual?

"Hey... Are you wearing bracelets... and earrings?" Atemu asked, bewildered. Mariku grinned.

"Yup! I was thinking about how good Malik looked in his usual attire, with all that gold, so I went out and bought matching earrings and bracelets!" Bakura rolled his eyes, and then proceeded to notice another detail.

"Hey... Where IS Malik?"

"Don't know", Yuugi replied, sounding a bit worried. "I assumed that he was just late, but he hasn't showed up at all. Does anyone have his phone number?"

"Does he even have a phone?" Ryou countered. Yuugi shrugged.

"I don't know", he replied. "But anyway!" He leant closer and looked at Ryou more intensely. "You and Bakura are a couple now! Why didn't you tell us?"

"We never had the chance", Ryou said with a smile and took Bakura's hand into his own. "I'm sorry if you had to hear it from Otogi or Honda."

"Actually, I told them", Atemu said, chuckling lightly. "I saw you two get together at the party, so I told Yuugi and Mariku about it this morning." Bakura glared at Atemu. At least all his friends were okay with it, but he hadn't wanted his relationship with Ryou to be the subject of discussion among his friends. He was more interested in, for example, what had happened to Malik. He poked Mariku.

"Hey! Mariku! I would've thought that you would worry about Malik, at least!" Mariku looked at Bakura, seeming a bit frightened.

"Yeah... I know. By the way, I have to tell you something. Something really strange happened after I had escorted Malik home." He looked worried as he started his tale. "I saw ghosts. At least I think I did. And don't laugh at me!" he hissed as Ryou and Yuugi gave him disbelieving looks. "I heard voices... They kept saying something about the darkness coming and someone returning..." His voice shivered as he spoke. "I think they knew me, somehow... They called me 'assassin'."

"They knew about your Ancient Egyptian self?" Bakura asked in disbelief. "That's very alarming."

"Something strange happened to me too, after I had taken you home, Yuugi", Atemu said and looked at Yuugi. "I met a strange Egyptian man who kept telling me to give me 'the Puzzle'. I think he was talking about this." He pulled out a golden pendant from underneath his school uniform and gave it to Yuugi. "Do you want it back?" Yuugi nodded violently.

"Yes, please! My grandpa was acting really strange about it... He kept saying that if that pendant leaves the house we'll be in grave danger... but when I asked him about it he wouldn't say anything more. I lied to him about taking it, though..." Yuugi looked sheepish as he slipped the golden item into his bag.

"That sounds strange too", Bakura stated and looked at Atemu. "What did the strange man do?"

"He knew my name", Atemu explained. "He had this strange golden item he referred to as 'the Key' and he said something about playing a 'Shadow Game'..." Bakura was getting very suspicious.

"What's a Shadow Game?" Ryou asked, sounding worried. Atemu shrugged.

"I have no idea. But it certainly didn't sound very pleasant."

"So..." Bakura processed the information that he had been given over the last few minutes. "There's something strange about Yuugi's pendant, or shall we say Puzzle? Mariku has seen ghosts who seemed to recognise him from his past life. There's a strange Egyptian man who wants the Puzzle. Malik is missing. What do all these things have in common?"

"What do you mean? Malik, the Puzzle, that man, and those ghosts?" Mariku asked. "Uh..."

"Excuse me for interrupting..." Ryou said. "...but I have an idea. They're all connected to Egypt, aren't they? The Puzzle is marked with the Eye of Horus, which is an Egyptian symbol. Mariku lived his past life as an assassin in Ancient Egypt, if I've got that right, not to mention that he lived in Egypt as a child in this life too." Mariku nodded. "The strange Egyptian man explains himself, I guess. Malik is also from Egypt. See?"

"But maybe Malik is just ill! Why would all these things have a connection?" Yuugi pondered. The five teenagers looked at each other and sighed. They were getting nowhere with this. Ryou leant against Bakura's shoulder for support. He did that at a very bad moment, as a certain classmate of theirs chose that moment to show himself.

"Would you look at that", Otogi said, making a sweet voice. "Crawford and Shiromune, sitting under the cherry tree together. Oh, and look, you've even got your friends with you!"

"Go away, Otogi", Bakura hissed. He glanced at his group of friends briefly. Atemu looked slightly annoyed, while Yuugi had taken cover behind him in order to avoid conflict. Mariku was glaring at Otogi with a glare that could have killed a ghost. Ryou just clenched Bakura's hand tightly.

"What? Am I not invited to your little gathering?" Otogi asked mockingly. Honda and Jonouchi came up behind him, laughing. "Hey, where's your sixth member? Where's Ishtar?"

"None of your business!" Mariku interrupted before Otogi had the chance to say something insulting about Malik, as he had clearly intended to do that. Otogi just ignored him and turned to Ryou and Bakura. Bakura immediately leapt to his feet and glared at Otogi.

"So Crawford finally admitted that he's got the hots for girly boy Shiromune?" Otogi sneered. "Is he as good in bed as you hoped? Better than a girl? Or perhaps YOU are the girl in the relationship?" Bakura felt his cheeks turn red and felt humiliated by the question. He stared down into the ground, not wanting to meet Otogi's gaze. He didn't know what to do. He didn't want to lose control of himself like last time.

In the end though, he didn't have to do anything. Bakura heard the sound of someone punching someone and Otogi letting out a groan of pain and surprise. He looked up. Ryou was standing in front of Otogi, looking angrier than Bakura had thought it was possible for sweet little Ryou to look. Ryou's usually gentle brown eyes were blazing with fury. Honda's and Jonouchi's laughter had disappeared when Ryou had punched Otogi, and everyone was now looking at him.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Even though Ryou's voice was even quieter than usual, one could still hear him clearly; hear exactly how angry he was. "You know nothing about our relationship, and we would prefer it to stay that way. Don't you have anything better to do with your time than mocking others for how they look or what kind of people they like? How would you feel if someone went around mocking you for liking girls?"

"That's different! I'm... I'm straight!" Otogi interrupted, sounding a bit helpless. He didn't know how to talk back to Ryou, Bakura realised.

"So because you're part of the majority, it gives you the right to say rude things to others?" Ryou countered, still sounding completely calm despite his anger. "Bakura and I are in a relationship. That's a fact. You have no right to look down on us for being the same gender. We have enough problems already. Also, about this 'girl in the relationship' thing... Are you trying to say that a girl has to be submissive in a relationship? That sounds rather sexist to me." Otogi just stared at Ryou in shock and anger, opening and closing his mouth repeatedly, trying to think of something to say.

"How dare you talk to me like that?" Otogi hissed and threw a punch against Ryou. Bakura was about to dash forward to help him out, but Ryou ducked and moved to the side, and before Otogi had the chance to react, Ryou kicked him hard between the legs. Otogi sank to his knees with a groan of pain and Honda and Jonouchi stared at Ryou in shock.

"Hmm... Maybe because you're a rude bigot who needs to be taught a lesson?" Ryou glared down at Otogi. "Leave my friends alone, or I'll make you regret ever saying anything about us." Otogi glared at Ryou, but he got to his feet, snorted and made his way back towards the school entrance as elegantly as his wounded pride (and private parts) allowed him to. Honda and Jonouchi stood still, staring after him. After a few seconds, Honda spurted after him.

"Ryuuji! Wait!"

"That was rather impressive of ya, Shiromune", Jonouchi said, grinning, before following Honda and Otogi. Atemu and Mariku stared after him in surprise. Yuugi, on the other hand, was staring at Ryou in shock.

"Ryou... That was really cool", the small teen finally stated. Ryou blinked, and all the threatening fury around him vanished immediately as he smiled warmly at Yuugi.

"Thank you, I guess... I... I just lost my temper. Sorry about that..."

"Are you kidding me?" Mariku shouted and got to his feet. "That was wonderful! You just owned Otogi! You sure showed him not to mess with us!" He placed his hand on one of Ryou's shoulders and grinned maniacally. Bakura had to laugh.

"I didn't know you could be so violent, Ryou."

"Desperate times call for desperate measures", Ryou replied and laughed lightly. Bakura chuckled and placed his hand on Ryou's shoulder; the one Mariku wasn't touching.

"Good work", he stated, pushed Mariku away from Ryou and pulled Ryou into a hug. As Ryou wrapped his arms around Bakura and moved closer, Bakura could hear Mariku making a sound that sounded like choking.

"Ugh... The sweetness... It's too much..." Atemu, Yuugi and Ryou all laughed at Mariku's antics, and Bakura couldn't help but sigh at his best friend and tease him a little.

"Would it be too sweet if Malik let you hold him like that, too?" he asked jokingly.

"Shut up", Mariku said, glaring at him, ignoring Atemu's wild laughter that echoed over the school yard as the bell rang. Bakura was just about to take Ryou's hand and head back to the classroom when Yuugi suddenly let out a gasp.

"Hey! Look! Is that Malik?" he shouted. The five friends all turned to face the entrance to the school yard. Malik was running towards them... but there was something off. He was swaying as he ran and his face displayed pain. "Something is wrong." Yuugi whispered.

"Malik!" Mariku shouted and ran towards him, closely followed by Yuugi and Ryou. Atemu and Bakura were left staring at each other for a few seconds, but as if reading each other's minds, they followed the others at the very same time. Malik looked at them all in relief as he finally reached them, breathing heavily and seeming very frightened.

"Are you all right, Malik?" Ryou asked in worry. "What happened? Oh dear! What happened to you?!" Bakura stared at Malik's chest in shock. The school uniform's blue jacket and white shirt were getting dark in some places. It looked almost like...

"Are you bleeding, Malik?" Mariku grabbed Malik's shoulders and shook him gently. "Who did this to you?"

"Mariku..." Malik mumbled half-consciously and half-leant, half-fell into Mariku's arms. "Help me... Please..." Mariku caught him and held onto him tightly. Bakura had never seen his best friend look so upset. Mariku's ice blue eyes were reflecting enormous concern over Malik.

"Who did this to you? Why?!" Mariku hissed, his voice shaking.

"Mmh... my father..." Malik mumbled. "He wants it back... But I won't give it to him... Heh..." With that, he fainted in Mariku's arms, leaving his five friends to stare at him in shock.

"His father did that to him? Did I hear that right?" Atemu sounded genuinely frightened. "What kind of parent hurts their child like that?"

"What does his father want back?" Yuugi wondered. "We should go get Pegasus."

"You're not going anywhere until I get my son and what he took from me back!" a voice echoed from behind them. They spun around, looking towards the school yard's entrance, to find themselves face to face with a tan man with messy grey hair and a beard, wearing a grey robe. He held a clear resemblance to Malik, so there was no doubt who was standing before them.

"Stay away from him!" Mariku hissed, his eyes gleaming like a wild animal's, still holding the unconscious Malik in his arms. "I won't let you near him! I'll protect him from you!"

"I can't allow you to do that", Mr Ishtar said and pulled out a golden staff from beneath his robe. The staff had the Eye of Horus engraved at its top, from where it also had two triangle-shaped extensions pointing out. It vaguely reminded Bakura of something...

...something which he quickly realised was Yuugi's Puzzle, the one Atemu had borrowed and got stalked by an Egyptian man because of it. This in turn made Bakura realise that they were in danger.

"Everyone! Run!" Bakura shouted, but too late. Mr Ishtar smirked.

"Time to play a Shadow Game!" he shouted and raised his staff into the air. But then...

"Hold it right there!" someone shouted from behind them. Mr Ishtar's eyes widened in surprise.

"Who are you?" he questioned. Bakura turned around, to Seto Kaiba and Katsuya Jonouchi standing behind them. And to his surprise, Kaiba was holding a small ball-shaped item in his hand... One that also had the Eye of Horus engraved on it.

"I carry the Millennium Eye", Kaiba said, smiling ominously. "And I'm the one who will play this Shadow Game with you, Mr Ishtar."

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A/N: Wohoo! Ryou kicks ass! So, in this chapter, everyone finally knows about Ryou's and Bakura's relationship. At least Atemu, Mariku and Yuugi take it well. But I think they would. Atemu and Mariku have been Bakura's friends since childhood and know better than teasing him about it (especially since Mariku likes Malik and it's hinted that Atemu likes Yuugi, too). And Yuugi is just too nice to mock someone about something like that.

Our current antagonist Otogi makes an attempt at mocking our couple, and gets owned by Ryou in the process. Once again, I'm going to point out my dislike of the seme/uke dynamic. I want Ryou, despite being the "girlier" person in the relationship, to be able to take care of himself and not have Bakura do everything for him. Also, the idea that the girl has to be the submissive one in a relationship is very stupid, because in a normal healthy relationship both parts should be equally dominant and submissive. Ryou is pretty much voicing my opinion on the roles of genders in relationships in this chapter, ha ha… And Otogi was unable to talk back to Ryou because he hadn't expected it. Honda and Jonouchi, who are Otogi's friends, are a bit of a difficult area. Honda is basically just following Otogi along, while Jonouchi does seem to have a mind on his own here…

And Malik is once again in trouble, with his own father no less. He's even been physically injured this time…! Poor thing doesn't get a break. And Seto Kaiba makes a grand entrance at the end of the chapter! Is everybody ready for a Shadow Game? Because there is one coming in the next chapter!


	12. The Shadow Game

Hello again, everyone, and welcome to the 12th chapter! Hope you're still enjoying the story with all its twists and turns... ^^

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**Chapter 12 – The Shadow Game**

Atemu Namonaki had to admit that he was very confused. He also had to admit that this confusion was partly caused by his cousin Seto Kaiba. (This was very unusual, because Atemu rarely admitted it whenever Seto beat him at something.) Although Malik had definitely played a part in it too. Oh, and Malik's father too. This entire situation was just strange. What was Seto doing? Where did he get that Egyptian-looking item from?

"Seto, what are you doing?!" Atemu asked, feeling bewildered. Seto ran forward, positioning himself so that he was standing in front of Atemu and his friends, facing Malik's father. Jonouchi followed him, not quite as determined, but still looking ready for a fight. Just what was about to happen now?

"Let us start the Shadow Game", Seto said determinedly. The small ball-shaped item in his hand began to glow with a golden, unnatural light. Mr Ishtar smirked.

"You have made a great mistake challenging me, boy", he said, and with that, his golden staff began to glow with the very same light. Atemu felt an eerie chill going down his spine. At once, the clear autumn sky darkened; it turned a dark, dark blue, and the previously white clouds became a poisonous purple colour. Atemu looked down and found the ground disappearing under his feet and vanishing into the same darkness as the sky. When he cast a few looks around himself all of the surroundings, like the school yard and the building itself, had disappeared too. He heard Yuugi and Ryou gasp in shock.

"What the hell?" Bakura hissed and Atemu saw him pull Ryou closer protectively. Mariku didn't say anything; he had sunk to the ground holding the unconscious Malik in his arms, but as the ground had vanished from sight it looked like he was floating in the dark space around them. Yuugi moved closer to Atemu, looking very confused.

"Now then", Mr Ishtar said, smirking. "Let our Shadow Game begin."

"Sure!" Jonouchi suddenly spoke up. He pulled something small and rectangular out of his pocket. Atemu was very confused to see that it was a deck of Duel Monster cards. Jonouchi pulled out the card at the top of the deck. "Red-Eyes Black Dragon! It's show-time!" The card glowed with a golden light and Atemu's heart skipped a beat. Was this...? No, it couldn't be; it was just a playing card, right?

But there he had been wrong. The light that came out of Jonouchi's card connected with the light of Seto's mysterious item and started taking a concrete shape. When the light disappeared, it had been replaced with a ferocious black beast-like dragon about twice Jonouchi's size. The monster's crimson eyes shone with viciousness, and Jonouchi smirked confidently.

"Not bad, but not good enough", Mr Ishtar said calmly and pulled out a handful of Duel Monster cards on his own. He shuffled through them quickly and pulled out the card of his choice. "Lava Golem! Come forth!" The card glowed, and a frightening giant made out of magma took shape before Mr Ishtar.

"Red-Eyes Black Dragon! Attack Lava Golem!" Jonouchi shouted. The dragon roared and hurtled towards the other Duel Monster. However, the bigger monster ducked, surprisingly smoothly for its great size, and then proceeded to punch Jonouchi's dragon in the stomach. Red-Eyes screeched in pain and Jonouchi clenched his fists in frustration.

"The Duel Monsters... They're alive!" Yuugi whispered, a mixture between fear and awe. Atemu nodded slowly, not quite knowing what to think. He had loved the Duel Monsters game ever since it first came out when he was younger and had played it ever since, but he had never imagined that he would see an actual battle between two actual Duel Monsters with physical bodies and everything. He was impressed; that was a fact; but he was also very confused. How was this even possible?

Atemu was pulled out of his thoughts when Mr Ishtar's golem smashed Jonouchi's dragon to the invisible ground and spewed out streams of lava at it. Mr Ishtar laughed.

"That monster is not strong enough to defeat my Lava Golem!"

"Hey! Kaiba! A little help would be great!" Jonouchi screamed, almost panicking. Seto nodded and pulled out his own Duel Monster deck. Atemu already knew what monster Seto would summon; his cousin had always had one Duel Monster card that was his favourite no matter what.

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Aid me in this battle!"

Atemu had always liked teasing Seto about the Blue-Eyes. He had teased Seto for liking such an elegant and beautiful monster and loved to jokingly suggest that Seto was attracted to playing cards. However, when Blue-Eyes White Dragon materialised in front of him, Atemu immediately regretted the teasing. Sure, Blue-Eyes White Dragon was more elegant than Jonouchi's dragon, but it was bigger, and despite its beautiful pale blue almost white colour, it looked much more threatening, somehow. Blue-Eyes roared and flew towards Mr Ishtar's Duel Monster, ready to attack, flapping its enormous wings as it went.

"How is this possible?" Atemu muttered to himself. Blue-Eyes roared again as it collided with Lava Golem and knocked it to the ground. Seto was shuffling through his deck of cards and pulled out another card.

"I activate a spell card!" he shouted and the card dissolved into thin air before Atemu had a chance to look at it closer. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon! Attack Lava Golem! Use your special attack: Burst Stream of Destruction!" Seto's Duel Monster began charging a white ball of light in its mouth, before firing a destructive white beam at Mr Ishtar's monster, which shattered into pieces, just like a mirror would when broken, and disappeared. Mr Ishtar looked horrified as the two dragon-like monsters moved closer to him, growling threateningly.

"This is not over", Mr Ishtar hissed and stared at Seto furiously. "I will get you for this; I swear!" His gaze swept over to Mariku, who was still sitting with Malik's unconscious form in his arms. Mariku looked up, his ice blue eyes gleaming with defiance and fury.

"I will protect Malik with my life", Mariku said boldly, staring into Mr Ishtar's eyes.

"You will regret those words later, you foolish boy", Mr Ishtar replied angrily. Mariku grinned. Atemu had seen Mariku make those strange, creepy grins many times, but this time, Mariku looked deeply, truly insane; even more so than ever before.

"Oh, but Mr Ishtar, I don't think I will", he replied ominously, grinning even wider. "In fact, I think YOU will be the one who will regret what you've done." Mr Ishtar looked at Mariku suspiciously, before huffing and turning to Seto.

"I will be back, boy. I will not give up until I get back my son and what he took from me", the older man hissed and raised his golden staff. "This Shadow Game is over!" The staff glowed with golden light, surrounded Mr Ishtar with the light, and then he was gone.

"Coward", Jonouchi said, frowning. "He ran away when things started going badly for him. Hey, Kaiba, we can quit the game now, too." Seto nodded.

"Yes. We will." The ball-shaped item in Seto's palm glowed, and at once, the strange shadowy surroundings disappeared, and the eight students landed unceremoniously on the ground outside the school. The two dragons vanished along with the shadows, and when Atemu cast a look around him, he noticed that Mr Ishtar had disappeared too. Everyone remained quiet for maybe a second, until Bakura interrupted the silence smoothly.

"Would you mind explaining what the hell just happened, Kaiba?" he asked calmly, even if Atemu could sense the annoyance boiling underneath the surface. Seto shoved the small golden item back into one of his school uniform's pockets.

"We don't have time right now. We have to get out of here", Seto replied, sounding a bit worried under his cool façade.

"Where did that bastard go?!" Mariku hissed, sounding downright murderous. "We can still catch up to him! Come on!"

"If you don't want Ishtar to die from blood loss, we should really priority his health and get him somewhere safe", Seto replied smartly. "We can go to my place. We have lots of medical equipment there." Mariku blinked two times, and the psychosis just vanished from his eyes. He looked down at the still unconscious boy in his arms and nodded.

"You're right. Let's go."

–

Darkness was the only thing Malik could see. He felt an intense pain in his chest and was completely unable to move, as the pain would have been too much. He could comprehend that he was lying on his back on something soft that felt like a bed, and that his eyes were closed. Ah. That's why he wasn't seeing anything. He sat up and opened his eyes, trying to ignore the deep pain shooting through his entire body. He looked down and realised that someone had taken off the top part of his school uniform and bandaged his wounds. His entire upper body was wrapped in bandages. Malik felt his head spinning and almost fell back into the bed, if it hadn't been for someone grabbing his shoulders.

"I've got you", Bakura said calmly, letting go of Malik as soon as he saw that Malik wasn't going to collapse. Malik refused to admit to himself that he was disappointed that it was Bakura and not Mariku who had been here to support him. "Are you feeling all right?" Bakura asked, still calm as ever. Malik felt a bit confused by Bakura's gentle behaviour, but assumed that he was just worried.

"I'm fine", he replied and shifted slightly where he sat on the bed. "My back hurts, but it's all right."

"It didn't look all right", Bakura replied, his eyes narrowing slightly. "You were lucky. None of your vital organs were wounded."

"It's okay", Malik insisted, even though he knew that both Bakura and himself knew that he was lying. "Where are we? Where's everyone else?" He cast a gaze around the big empty room and found that it reminded him of a hospital.

"We're at Kaiba's and Atemu's place. Gozaburo Kaiba's private mansion. It's probably the biggest house I've ever visited", Bakura said as he sat down on the bed beside him. "Everyone else is outside. Kaiba wanted to tell us all something, but he wanted you to be awake to hear it."

"Oh..." Malik scanned the room closer and found his shirt and jacket hanging on a chair. He suddenly remembered what had lead him to this situation from the start and stumbled to his feet, ignoring the deep pain that kept shooting through his lungs. "It's okay. I need to check something", he said when Bakura looked at him suspiciously. He grabbed his jacket from the chair, felt inside the pocket and was relieved to find that it was still in there; the paper-thin rectangular object he had went through so much for... He pulled on his jacket, but left his shirt on the chair as putting it on would have been too painful. "So... Seto Kaiba wanted something?"

"Yes", Bakura replied with a nod. "Something... Something really strange happened after you fainted." He sounded worried, which Malik thought was a strange thing to hear from Bakura.

"...What happened?" Malik asked, although he already had a feeling that he knew, because his father had chased after him when Malik had stolen the very item now tucked safely away in Malik's jacket's pocket, and Malik knew exactly what his father was capable of...

"Do you know what a Shadow Game is?" Bakura asked abruptly. Malik sighed. He had been right. He nodded. "Your father played one against Kaiba and Jonouchi." This was unexpected.

"Kaiba and Jonouchi?" he questioned, surprised. Bakura nodded.

"Kaiba had this small item... shaped like a ball. It reminded me of your father's staff, or whatever it was." Kaiba had a Millennium Item? This was new. Malik didn't know what was going on. He felt very unsafe. All his life, he had been taught not to discuss Shadow Games or Millennium Items outside his family. Now, the situation was unavoidable. Malik was broken out of his thoughts when several people entered the room. He spotted Yuugi, Atemu, Ryou, a serious-looking dark-haired man with a moustache, a pale woman with mahogany-coloured hair, Kaiba, Jonouchi, and Mariku.

"Are you all right?" Malik was surprised by Mariku's question, because Mariku should be more worried about his own health than Malik's. Mariku's spiky hair looked even wilder than usual, he seemed very tense and his eyes were staring at Malik intensely, scaring Malik a bit. Mariku walked up to him slowly, and Malik nodded.

"Of course I am!" He was actually more worried by Mariku's state of mind than by his own injuries. After all, he was a quick healer and these wounds would be nothing but scars in a few days (at least that was what he hoped; he hadn't actually seen how serious the wounds on his chest were), but Mariku's mental health, which was fragile to begin with, was another story altogether. "Hey... What about you?" Mariku flinched at the question.

"Me? I'm fine", he replied, trying to sound confident but not quite succeeding. Malik was going to protest, but he didn't really get the chance, because Jonouchi chose that precise moment to attack him with questions.

"What happened to you? Did your father do that to you? What kind of parent is he anyway, if he does things like that to his own kids? Why did he do it? Where did he get that staff he was holding?" Malik felt like his head was going to explode. He barely even knew Jonouchi in person; to Malik, Jonouchi was just a friend of Otogi the bully, and Malik didn't really understand what he was even doing here.

"Calm down!" Yuugi said. Malik had never before been so grateful to one of his friends.

"Malik can't answer that many questions at the same time", Ryou continued. "And to be honest, I don't think he wants to answer your questions, Jonouchi."

"Malik has woken up now", Atemu said and glared at Kaiba and the two adults in the room. "I demand an explanation. Now. Mum, what's going on?"

"We're about to explain that", the mahogany-haired woman replied calmly.

"Calm down, young man", the dark-haired man said sternly. "You're getting nowhere with that behaviour. Everyone, take a seat." Ryou sat down on the other side of Bakura, and Mariku took a seat next to Malik, while Atemu, Yuugi and Jonouchi took a seat on the bed standing next to the one Malik had laid in. Kaiba, the man and the woman (who was apparently Atemu's mother) remained standing.

"All right. Is everyone listening?" Atemu's mother asked warmly. When everyone nodded, she smiled. "For those of you who haven't met me before, my name is Atsuko Namonaki. I'm Atemu's mother, if you didn't get that already. And this is my brother, Gozaburo Kaiba." She pointed at the dark-haired man beside her. "He's Seto's father, and the richest man in Domino, but I guess you already knew that."

"You don't have to get boastful", Jonouchi muttered under his breath, reminding Malik of that classmate bonding experience. Seto Kaiba smirked, but his father quickly took the lead in the speech.

"Atemu Namonaki. Bakura Crawford. Mariku Khayal. Yuugi Mutou. Ryou Shiromune. Today, my sister, my son, Katsuya Jonouchi and I will share some very valuable information with you. This information must by no means be passed on to anyone." He looked at Malik sharply. "And then there's you, Malik Ishtar. I assume you are already aware of most of this, and how secret it must be kept, but I still expect you to listen closely. There may be some new information for you among what I have to share." Malik felt everyone's eyes on him for a few seconds. Did his friends feel betrayed by the fact that he had not shared any information with them? He hoped not. "This information has only been shared to a select few. Consider yourselves lucky to be part of this group." Everyone turned their attention back to Gozaburo. Malik felt Mariku's eyes linger on him a few seconds longer than everyone else's.

"Shall we start, then?" Atsuko asked, walked up to the door that lead out of the room, locked it, and turned back to face everyone. "All right. The story we have to tell you starts in Ancient Egypt..."

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A/N: I didn't originally mean to include Duel Monsters as anything else than a little card game. Seriously. But somehow this just happened. It's just… I'm incapable of writing anything without some Fantasy elements, and Duel Monsters are just a good way to include some Fantasy in the fic. The Shadow Game was interesting but very difficult to write. I've always had problems with writing action scenes, so I hope I did okay. As for Jonouchi working with Kaiba and knowing some secrets too… well, it'll be revealed in the next chapter, along with many other things. Malik's secrets will be revealed too, and he's been hiding a lot of things from his friends. I've left them a bit vague on purpose. You'll see soon.

Gozaburo Kaiba makes his first appearance too. He's been mentioned before, of course, but this is the first time we meet him in person, along with his sister: Atemu's mother Atsuko Namonaki. The Gozaburo in Yu-Gi-Oh! canon is a cruel and horrible man who cares about nothing but money, and I decided to make an alternative interpretation of him. My version of Gozaburo is a serious businessman who runs his company with a great sense of responsibility but who still looks out for his family. Atsuko Namonaki looks like Yuugi's unnamed mother in canon, but I decided to name her and make her Atemu's mother instead because I felt that he needed a closer relative than his uncle and cousins. (I also imagine she's the one keeping Gozaburo in line…) Atsuko is just a random common Japanese first name, and she has taken the last name of Atemu's father, who is no longer around for whatever reason. Well, enough of this already.

Next chapter explains many things and finally kicks up some proper action. Stay tuned. (I think I need to rewrite some parts of it before posting it. I'm self-conscious like that...)


	13. Magic is Real

Gah! This chapter is awfully late! Sorry! -_- I had a horribly busy week last week so I forgot to post this chapter, and this week isn't going to be much better... At least I hope you'll enjoy this chapter, and please leave a review to motivate me to remember to post the next chapter! ^^ Also, for some reason the site won't let me upload the cover for this chapter, so if you want to see it, you'll have to visit my fic/art Tumblr... The link can be found on my profile.

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**Chapter 13 – Magic is Real**

"Once upon a time, in Ancient Egypt, many thousands of years ago, there was a Pharaoh", Atsuko Namonaki began. It sounded like she was about to start telling a fairytale. Bakura remembered back when he, Atemu and Mariku had been kids, when they had had sleepovers at Atemu's house and made Atsuko tell them stories all night. She was such a wonderful storyteller. However, Bakura paid close attention to Atsuko's story, aware that this was not a normal story of hers. If it was about Ancient Egypt, he hoped to gain some more information of his past life and about what was going on here. He hoped it would help Ryou remember something from his life as Ruya, too...

"This Pharaoh, under unknown circumstances, created seven mysterious items which contained the powers of darkness", Gozaburo continued as he paced around the room, eyeing them all suspiciously. Bakura had always thought Gozaburo was a bit too paranoid, but considering that his family was in constant danger because of his enormous wealth, it really wasn't strange. "These items were known as the Millennium Items." He stopped pacing, leaving himself to stand between his son and his sister. "The legends tell that the same Pharaoh's son later won a battle against a great evil with the help of the Millennium Items. Not many details are known about this part of history, though. Most of the information has been buried in the sands of time."

"What does a story about Ancient Egypt have to do with anything?!" Mariku snarled, eyes gleaming with anger. Bakura frowned. Mariku had been acting strange ever since Malik showed up injured at the school yard. He wondered what was wrong. Sure, Mariku was always a bit irregular in his behaviour, but this was stranger than usual. Bakura was surprised to see Malik place his hand on top of Mariku's shaking one, squeezing it in an attempt to comfort.

"Trust them. It's important", Malik whispered. Ever since he first got to know Malik, Bakura had had a feeling that he was hiding something. That it was something related to an Ancient Egyptian legend was not what he had imagined it to be.

"Twelve years ago, Gozaburo and I started investigating the story of the Millennium Items", Atsuko continued. "It did not take us long to discover that they were, in fact, real."

"As we said, there are seven Millennium Items", Gozaburo continued. "Each one of them has a unique power, but the one thing they have in common is that they all have the ability to call on the power of the darkness and pull their surroundings into a different realm, known only as 'the Shadow Realm'. This power is known as the Shadow Game." Everyone looked shocked. "The Shadow Game bends on the rules of reality; in a Shadow Game, monsters, magic and the spirits of the dead walk among us."

"So when Mr Ishtar attacked us with those Duel Monster cards..." Yuugi formulated his words carefully, sounding a bit frightened. "...they were actually real monsters? Real, actual, magical, non-illusionary monsters?" Atsuko nodded.

"Yes. We have tried researching it all from a scientific point of view, but we can't find any explanations. Just like reincarnation, magic exists, somehow. The magic is sealed within these items, and we don't know how or why. We assume that magic was actually something common back in Ancient Egypt and other old civilizations, but its use has been long forgotten by most modern people."

"There are seven Millennium Items." Seto broke into the conversation (Bakura mentally referred to him as Seto now, so that he wouldn't get the Kaiba father and the Kaiba son mixed up.). "This is the one our family is in possession of." He pulled out the small ball-shaped item from his pocket. "The Millennium Eye. It is, like all Millennium Items, able to start a Shadow Game, but it also has a unique ability. This ability is used by holding the Eye like this." Seto held up the Millennium Eye in front of his real right eye. "It allows you to see into people's minds and read their thoughts."

"Read thoughts?" Atemu asked disbelievingly. "I don't believe that. I'll think of something random, and then you tell you'll use that magic eye of yours to tell everyone what I'm thinking about!"

"All right." Seto turned around to face Atemu, still covering one of his real eyes with the Millennium Eye. "My dear cousin is thinking about the cloak he wore at the Halloween party; how brilliantly blue it was, and how much he liked wearing it." Atemu's eyes widened in surprise. "And now, he's thinking that I could use this to discover his secret feelings for... Oh... Ha ha. I'll be nice for once. I think I won this round, cousin." Seto put the Millennium Eye back into the pocket of his school uniform.

"Fine", Atemu replied sulkily. Bakura understood that Atemu felt very humiliated; Seto having the last word was something Atemu really loathed. "But if you, mother and Uncle Gozaburo all knew about this... Why didn't you tell me? Why does someone like Jonouchi know about it?!" Atemu glared sternly at Jonouchi, who looked a bit insulted.

"Someone like me? Was that meant to be an insult?"

"Only Atsuko and I knew at first", Gozaburo said. "But Seto eavesdropped on us one evening about two years back and figured everything out by himself. We had to make him swear to never tell anyone, but he told Mokuba anyway, of course." Atemu looked very insulted.

"You told Mokuba but not me? There's no way he could keep a secret like magic existing!" he shouted.

"Well, I've managed to keep it secret rather well until now", a voice echoed through the room. A short boy who barely reached above Gozaburo's waist stuck out his head from behind Gozaburo. He had long, messy black hair that looked like a crow's nest and big dark blue eyes. Bakura recognised him as Seto's twelve-year-old little brother Mokuba. Atemu snorted and glared at Seto, still angry.

"You told Mokuba…" he muttered, sounding annoyed.

"This was not what we came here to discuss", Gozaburo said in annoyance. "Atsuko and I aren't the only ones you can trust. There are two more people who are part of the four original people who started this investigation. I called them and told them what happened, and as a matter of fact, I think at least one of them is arriving right now." Footsteps echoed down the hall outside the room, and everyone stared at the door expectantly.

The door opened, and a young man stepped inside. His skin was tanned and his hair was shaved except for a long black ponytail that hung down his back. He had a tattoo consisting of several hieroglyphs that covered a big part of the left side of his face. Bakura, Atemu, Mariku and Malik gasped in surprise when they recognised the man who had just entered the room.

"Rishid?!" Mariku sounded very shocked. "What are you doing here?!"

"I'm sorry for not telling you about this, Mariku", Rishid Khayal said, looking at his younger brother apologetically. "I was going to tell you, but I wanted to wait a little longer. For those of you who don't know me..." He looked at Yuugi and Ryou. "...I'm Rishid Khayal. I'm Mariku's older brother." He turned to Gozaburo and Atsuko. "Pegasus won't come to this meeting. As you should know, he's busy teaching." Wait, what?

"Pegasus?" Bakura interrupted. "What the hell? Is my dad involved with this too?" Gozaburo gave him a look that clearly showed that he did not approve of Bakura's rude behaviour.

"Yes. In fact, he was the one who discovered the magic hidden in the Millennium Items in the first place. Have you ever heard of Maximillion Pegasus?" Atsuko asked.

"The creator of the Duel Monsters game?" Atemu wondered. "That American guy who no one knows the true identity of, and who hasn't been heard of for many years? Wait a second. Pegasus? No, don't tell me that Maximillion Pegasus is Pegasus J. Crawford's secret identity..." Atemu somehow managed to voice Bakura's exact thoughts out loud, and Bakura was very shocked to see Gozaburo and Atsuko nod. Pegasus had INVENTED the Duel Monsters game?! Why had he never told Bakura about that? Bakura felt betrayed for not knowing such an important detail about his father's life.

"Pegasus and I met when he came to Japan from his homeland America when we were in high school", Atsuko said. "We became friends and kept in touch even after he went back to America. We were both interested in foreign cultures. When Rishid and Mariku came to Japan twelve years ago and accidentally saved Seto from a kidnapper, my brother thanked them by supporting them financially. I talked to Rishid, who was thirteen at the time, and from him I learnt the legend of the Millennium Items."

"I have a Millennium Item in my possession", Rishid explained. "Our parents owned it back in Egypt, but never knew what it was. I made some research and discovered the item's true nature. That's the real reason I wanted to leave Egypt. The Millennium Scale is dangerous and must be kept away from those who want to use it for evil deeds. Its special ability is deadly." Mariku was staring at his brother in shock, clearly attempting to comprehend this new information. "When we met Atsuko and Gozaburo, I accidentally got them involved in my attempt to hide the Scale."

"We became curious about the Millennium Items", Atsuko continued. "I contacted Pegasus and told him about them. He became very interested and came to Japan immediately. He brought his wife Cyndia with him, and also the little boy they had adopted on their last trip to Japan." She looked at Bakura and smiled. Bakura felt no surprise that he was in this tale too. Nothing could surprise him any more.

"That was Bakura", Atemu mumbled, trying to piece all the information together.

"Pegasus then went on a trip to Egypt to find out more about the legend", Gozaburo said. "There, he discovered the myths of the Spirit Monsters, creatures that contained the power of your spiritual self, and was so fascinated by them that he decided to make a card game based on those myths. He created a fake name, Maximillion Pegasus, and named the game Duel Monsters just in case someone would notice a connection between the cards and the Egyptian myths and come chasing after him for information about the Millennium Items."

"Duel Monsters were originally a myth too?" Atemu looked completely horrified to find out things like this about his favourite game.

"Yes", Atsuko said. "However, we soon discovered that the cards that were based on the ancient Spirit Monsters held actual magical powers once they were part of a Shadow Game. We also discovered that three of the monster cards were more powerful than the others; powerful enough to turn magical even without the influence of the Millennium Items."

"Luckily, Pegasus had only made prototypes of these three cards, which we called 'the God Cards' because they held divine powers", Gozaburo said. "They hadn't been published worldwide, and that was lucky because otherwise we would have been in trouble." Bakura could almost imagine small children opening a trading card pack and accidentally unleashing magical powers powerful enough to destroy the world. It sounded like something from a cliché fantasy novel. With extra trading cards. "These three cards are the Sky Dragon of Osiris, the Giant God Soldier of Obelisk and the Sun Dragon Ra. We more commonly refer to them as Osiris, Obelisk and Ra."

"Where are these all-powerful cards?" Atemu asked curiously. "Can I use them to beat Seto at Duel Monsters?" Seto glared at him.

"We'll get to that", Atsuko said. "About two years ago, around the same time as Seto and Mokuba learnt about all of this, the God Cards were stolen from us. We found out that it was an Egyptian clan known as the Tomb Keepers who were behind the theft. We eventually managed to recover Osiris and Obelisk. Seto managed to track Obelisk down, and our very own Katsuya Jonouchi originally got involved with this when he accidentally got his hands on Osiris a few months back. He refused to give it back to Seto unless given a good reason, so we told him the truth and he wanted to help us." Jonouchi grinned when mentioned.

"But you don't know where the last God Card is?" Bakura asked. The thought of a playing card with awesome magical powers lost in the great wide world didn't really amuse him. Malik shifted uncomfortably beside him. "Do these... Tomb Keepers still have it?"

"That's our current objective", Seto said. "Find the Sun Dragon Ra, and the remaining Millennium Items. We have two; the Scale and the Eye. There are five left. We now know that the Millennium Rod is in town too; Ishtar's father had it, after all. How did he get his hands on it, by the way? Do you know anything, Ishtar?" Everyone looked at Malik. Malik responded by glaring at Seto and Gozaburo.

"How do I know I can trust you?" he asked, softly yet somehow sounding threatening. "What do you want to do with the Millennium Items?" Gozaburo was clearly about to start shouting at Malik, but Rishid shushed him.

"We don't want anything in particular, except safe-keeping them from people who want to use them for evil deeds", Rishid said calmly and looked at Malik. "You... are a Tomb Keeper, aren't you?" Everyone stared at Malik in shock. "What does your family want with the Millennium Items?" Malik seemed to shrink before Bakura's eyes when he felt everyone stare at him.

"Yes... My family is part of the Tomb Keepers..." he said, sounding unsure. "Actually, even more than that. My father is the current leader of the Tomb Keepers." Everyone gasped. "He came to Japan to reclaim all the Millennium Items for himself after he heard that two of the God Cards our clan stole went missing again... He discovered that all of them were here, in Domino."

"All of the seven Millennium Items are in Domino City?" Gozaburo asked in shock. "We've been trailing them for years, and they're all somewhere in this very city?" Malik nodded.

"Yes. That's what he says. He doesn't know who has them, though", he continued. "My father has lost sense of the original objective of the Tomb Keepers by now, though... He only desires them for power. My... My older sister, Isis, wanted to be his heir; she is genuinely interested in protecting them. But father never wanted a girl as his heir, so nowadays she works freelance at Domino museum, but I think she's keeping many secrets from him. She might even have some Millennium Items of her own by now." Malik took a break in talking and took a deep breath. "Thus, I'm the heir of the Tomb Keeper clan. Although actually, father hates me too because he thinks I'm a worthless piece of trash for too many reasons to count. So I'm not really siding with the Tomb Keepers any more. I'm just tired of everything." He got to his feet shakily, wincing in pain. Mariku quickly leapt to his feet and took hold of Malik, supporting him. Malik took something out of his pocket and gave it to Rishid. "This is the reason my father was chasing me and injured me. Let this be a token of appreciation and an offering of peace. Thank you for helping me. I will support your attempts to gain the rest of the Millennium Items." Rishid took the small object into his hand, and his eyes widened in surprise. Gozaburo and Atsuko looked over his shoulders.

"This... This is..." Everyone got to their feet and scurried closer to see what it was. Bakura pushed Atemu with his annoying spiky hair out of the way and caught a glimpse of gold. It was a Duel Monster card. Unlike most monster cards in the game, which were an orange-brown colour, it was a golden yellow. The picture was of a golden dragon-like bird with enormous wings. The title on the card read "The Sun Dragon Ra". "Where did you get the last God Card from?" Atsuko asked in awe, staring at Malik in admiration. Malik smiled tiredly.

"My father has had it ever since it was stolen from you. I knew where he kept it, so I took it from him. I wanted to have my revenge for years of physical and mental abuse, and this was the only way I could... take my... revenge..." His eyes closed, his facial features relaxed, and with that, Malik Ishtar fell limply into the arms of a bewildered Mariku Khayal.

"Malik?! Malik, are you all right?!" Bakura once again saw the horrible panic in Mariku's eyes, and it frightened him to see Mariku acting like this.

"He'll be fine", Rishid said and took Malik's unconscious body out of Mariku's arms and lifted him back to the bed. "He's just tired." Mariku nodded, just looking really tired for a second. Bakura stopped paying attention to the Khayal brothers for a second when Ryou poked him in the side.

"Hey... Bakura? Remember the pendant Atemu wore on the party?" Ryou asked quietly. Bakura nodded, realisation dawning upon him as he realised how much that pendant had reminded him of Mr Ishtar's Millennium Rod and Seto's Millennium Eye.

"Hey! Atemu! Yuugi!" Bakura shouted. "Give Gozaburo that pendant!" Atemu's eyes widened when he realised what Bakura was implying, but Yuugi looked a bit unsure.

"Well... I promised I'd give it back to Grandpa, but..." He pulled out the pyramid-shaped pendant from underneath his school uniform. "Mr Kaiba? Mrs Namonaki? Mr Khayal? Is... Is this a Millennium Item too?" Atsuko's, Gozaburo's and Rishid's eyes widened comically; Atsuko even gasped.

"That's... That's..." Gozaburo seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

"...the Millennium Puzzle!" Rishid finished for him. "That's the Millennium Item with the most Shadow Magic of them all!" Everyone gathered around Yuugi, eagerly asking him where he had got it from; Seto sounded angry with Atemu for wearing it in public at the Halloween party. Somehow, the mysterious man Atemu had encountered was mentioned, and everyone suddenly became really busy trying to figure out who that man could have been.

In all the commotion, only Bakura noticed Mariku slipping out of the room without saying a word.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is my attempt to explain what the hell is going on, and if something's unclear, just ask me. I won't bite, I promise. So much information packed in one chapter can get a bit too much. So, to sum things up, Millennium Items are explained, along with Shadow Magic. Pegasus created Duel Monsters, which are based on ancient myths. Bakura is confused about this. Rishid and the Kaiba family own a Millennium Item each. Malik is a Tomb Keeper and has now gone and betrayed his clan. God Cards are dangerous, and they're all now in KaibaCorp's hands. Jonouchi and Seto are good at getting mixed up in things accidentally. Yuugi has a Millennium Item too. Everyone is shocked. Mokuba makes a small appearance. Mariku is acting strange. Yup. That's it, I think.

The Pharaoh and the great evil… It should be familiar to you people. Especially the Pharaoh. If you don't know what Pharaoh I'm talking about, I'll probably sigh and tell you to go read/watch Yu-Gi-Oh! all over again because you didn't pay enough attention. And I really won't bother explaining Millennium Items, Shadow Magic and God Cards to you all over again. I think this chapter summed up everything nicely enough. It was amusing to write, though. I love writing scenes which are basically just talking. The action scenes are much more difficult, so it's nice to take a break from them as often as possible. They do get a bit more frequent after this, though, if I'm not mistaken. Next chapter, things get rough. I'm not going to spoil it, though. You'll see for yourselves soon enough. But I can reveal one thing: it is crucial for one main character's further development in the story… and it's not in a good way. There are hints to who this character could be in this chapter, though. I dare you to guess who it is and what's going to happen.


	14. Mania

God, I suck for not updating this earlier. But my life has been very hectic lately and I've just been feeling really down, so I felt like I needed a little break, considering that the fic starts getting darker from now on. But anyway, I'm not here to whine about my personal life, even if I would be happy to do so. Here it is: the next chapter! Hope you... uh... enjoy this, and leave a review. I need the motivation. As in, I really really need it. Alert, there will be... dark stuff, as the title of the chapter may indicate.

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**Chapter 14 – Mania**

Mariku Khayal had not been able to form a single coherent, sensible thought since Malik first ran into the school yard with blood on his uniform. Mariku's brain was running on over-drive. The only thing on his mind was Malik. **Malik, that blond hair, that jewellery, that tanned skin, those captivating eyes, everything that drew Mariku in... Malik, and the blood running down his chest. Malik, and how his father had hurt him...** If Mariku hadn't been so shocked by what had happened to Malik, he might have had time notice the symptoms of mania in time and do something about it, but as the situation was now, Mariku was unable to think of anything else than **revenge**.

He wanted Malik's father to understand the hatred that flowed through his entire being right now. **He wanted to make the man suffer like Malik had suffered. Mariku had to avenge what had happened to Malik. To hurt Malik's father. He needed it so badly. He wanted that man's blood on his hands.**

He knocked on the door. **Soon. Soon. Soon, he would have what he wanted.** What he needed so **badly**. Revenge. **Oh, sweet revenge.**

_"__Is that you, boy? Have you finally accepted your destiny and brought me the Sun Dragon Ra back?"_

**He smirked. Mr Ishtar would never know what had hit him.**

The door opened, and Mr Ishtar looked at Mariku in surprise. He had clearly not expected anyone else than his son. **How naïve.**

**_"_****_I came here to make you regret, Mr Ishtar."_**

Mariku didn't remember what happened next. He only remembered wondering what he was doing here in the first place and why he was wearing the purple cloak he had worn at the Halloween party (a disguise?), and seeing Mr Ishtar's surprised face.

**For the next few minutes, he was not Mariku Khayal any longer. He was just rage, blood-lust and hate. And more than anything, he was the wicked laughter that came out of his mouth when he heard the screams of terror and pain.** He vaguely wondered where he had got the knife from. He couldn't remember. **He caught sight of something golden in the corner of his eye. He saw Mr Ishtar's eyes widen in fear.**

_"__What is wrong with you?! Stop what you are doing, right now!"_

**Cutting off the tongue was an effective way to make someone shut up. And it was an even better way to make someone feel pain. More screams. More blood. Pierced lungs. He laughed. A glimpse of gold, a quick stab, more laughter, more stabbing, and...**

...Mr Ishtar's heart had been impaled with the Millennium Rod. Mariku stared down at the Millennium Item in his hands, and at Mr Ishtar's corpse lying at his feet. His eyes were empty, an expression of fear still on his face. There was blood everywhere. Mariku felt like he was going to be sick. **And then he laughed. And laughed, and laughed. Crimson was such a good colour on Mr Ishtar. He felt wonderful. Euphoric.**

_"__Father, I'm home... W... Who are you? What have you done to my father?!"_

**He turned around, looking at the young, shocked woman behind him. He smirked. He wanted to kill more. To seriously harm. She was Malik's sister. She had known how her father had treated him, yet done nothing to help.** He had been caught in the act. He had to run. **Run. RUN! He pushed the woman out of the way, and ran. Ran, ran and ran until he could barely breathe. And then...**

...Mariku Khayal sank to his knees, completely burnt out. For about a minute, he remained in the same position, doing nothing else than repeatedly breathing in and breathing out, attempting to regain control of himself. What had happened over the last hours? Had he been hallucinating? He couldn't remember. He looked up at the sky. It was night-time. He had been completely out of it for a few hours, at least. Where was he? He looked around. He appeared to be in an alleyway in one of the more suspicious parts of the city. Notably, the part of the city where Malik lived. That was when Mariku looked down at his hands. He almost screamed.

His hands were covered in blood that wasn't his own, stained with the thick, crimson liquid. He was holding Mr Ishtar's Millennium Rod in his hands, and it too was bloodstained. Was he still hallucinating? Or had he actually...? Had he really...!? The Rod slipped out of Mariku's hands and fell onto the pavement with a loud clatter. Not a hallucination, then. What about the blood? Was it real? Mariku sniffed at his hands. Yes. Definitely real. So... That meant...

"I killed a man", Mariku whispered, in complete shock. Sure, his mental problems had always been difficult to live with, but he had never imagined that something like this could happen. How had he not noticed the signs of mania? Why had Rishid not noticed? Rishid was supposed to be his rock in these situations, but apparently some Egyptian artefacts were more important than his little brother going berserk because of the greatest attack of mania he had experienced in many years, and actually killing a man because of that! A man, who also happened to be his friend's and supposed love interest's father. And the powerful leader of an Egyptian sect. Mariku felt himself beginning to panic. Had Malik's sister seen him?! Or had that been his imagination going haywire? His breath was shaky as he attempted to get to his feet. Another realisation hit him.

"I'm a murderer", he whispered to himself in horror. The crushing realisation made him drop to his knees yet again. He, Mariku Khayal, had just killed someone. Brutally, by the looks of it, and by the vague memories of wicked laughter he had in his head. He stared at his shaking hands, feeling disgusted, and looked down at the Millennium Rod. He had used it to impale another human being. The tip of the Rod was very sharp, so Mariku could see how it had been possible. But it must have hurt. Horribly. He inhaled, his breath shuddering, trying not to drown in the turmoil in his heart. He felt hands on his shoulders. More hallucinations. No. Not now. Not more mania.

_"__Calm down"_, a voice whispered. Mariku whimpered pathetically. Not hearing voices too. But this voice was... kind, somehow? A pair of gentle hands pushed the hood on his purple cloak down from his head and ran fingers through his hair in a soothing motion. The fingers were ice-cold and sent shivers down Mariku's spine. _"Inhale. Exhale. It will be all right once you calm down. I promise."_ With the exception of the coldness, this was an unusually positive hallucination. Mariku did as instructed, taking deep breaths, trying to cleanse his mind from all his worries. _"There we go. You're doing well."_ The voice... It sounded familiar. Malik? No, that could not be Malik, could it? This voice was too soft to be Malik.

Mariku looked up, meeting concerned lavender eyes, a tanned face and bright blonde hair. However, there was something different about the young man kneeling next to him. He was wearing a lavender robe made of a material similar to silk, and had a silver diadem with the Eye of Horus on his forehead. Where did that come from? He also wore silver earrings and a silver necklace. Strange... Didn't Malik usually wear gold? And since when did he have a lavender robe? The one he had worn on Halloween had been red... He also looked more mature, somehow. He didn't seem to be in his teens, but in his young adult years.

"...Malik?" Mariku mumbled confusedly. The mysterious stranger smiled.

_"__The answer to that question is either yes or no"_, he replied, cupping Mariku's chin with one of his hands while continuing to run his other hand through Mariku's hair. _"But I can't say either of those answers would be completely truthful. I am Malik, yes, but not the Malik you know."_ Mariku felt even more confused at those words, but he was finally beginning to calm down, and he was just getting so tired...

"What do you mean?" he said, feeling his head getting more jumbled up by the second. "I'm... so tired..." He leant towards Malik(?) to get support, but instead of connecting with soft silky clothing, he slammed his head into the hard ground. "Ouch!" At least that woke him up. He raised his head, to meet Malik's(?) eyes once again. The lavender-robed man smiled softly.

_"__Sorry about that. It's hard to make yourself completely solid when you barely have any magic to use."_ He sighed. _"It's very frustrating."_ Mariku looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean, 'make yourself completely solid'?" He reached out a hand to touch Malik's(?) shoulder, but was unpleasantly surprised when his hand slipped right through, like attempting to touch air. Mariku groaned. "Oh, great. You're a hallucination. A very realistic one. Great", he said sarcastically. Malik(?) cocked his head to the side.

_"__A hallucination? What's that?"_ he asked curiously. _"If you're trying to imply that I'm not real, you're wrong. I'm as real as you."_

"Well, sorry to inform you..." Mariku said, beginning to get annoyed with this unusually persistent hallucination. "...but you're a hallucination. In other words, not real. Because non-solid people don't exist. That would make you a ghost, and ghosts... don't e-" Mariku paused as a sudden memory came back to him. Saturday. The ghosts that he had heard. The lavender-robed figure he had seen in the darkness. "...I've seen you before."

_"__Glad to see you realise that, Assassin"_, the ghost said calmly and leant forward, looking into Mariku's eyes intensely.

"How do you know about my past life?" Mariku asked, his voice unsteady. "Why do you look just like Malik? What were you trying to tell me the last time we met? You... You said something about the darkness returning..."

_"__That wasn't me"_, the ghost replied, tilting his head to the side. _"That was the spirits. They wanted to warn you."_

"What spirits? What did they want to warn me for? I don't understand!" Mariku whispered, feeling more and more unsafe by the minute. The ghost looked at him, seeming very sad all of a sudden.

_"__I know I should tell you... but perhaps you'll be better off not knowing. You'll find out eventually anyway."_ He grabbed Mariku's shoulders, his cold hands suddenly as solid as a real person's hands, and helped Mariku to his feet. _"Shouldn't you go home?"_ Mariku hadn't realised it before, but it was actually rather cold outside. He shivered and nodded.

"I guess I should." He looked at his hands, and at the Millennium Rod lying on the ground. "I need to do something about the blood, though..."

–

"I'm home!"

Rishid Khayal turned his head around from where he was sitting on the couch and found his little brother standing in the doorway, completely wrapped in the same purple cloak he had worn to the Halloween party, hiding his entire body. It looked rather suspicious.

"Mariku", Rishid began. "Where have you been? You just disappeared suddenly. I went home, thinking that you might be here, but you weren't. I got worried. Please, could you leave a note next time you go anywhere?" Mariku looked at him, sighing. Rishid noticed that Mariku's pupils were strangely dilated, and that he seemed unusually disorganised.

"I need to go to the bathroom", Mariku mumbled uncharacteristically quietly and slipped into said room, locking the door behind him. Rishid could hear him turning the water tap on. What was he doing? Rishid got to his feet and approached the bathroom door.

"Mariku? Are you all right?" Rishid asked, not knowing if he should be suspicious or worried. The door was unlocked, and Mariku stepped out, now having got rid of the purple cloak. Rishid could see it lying dumped on the bathroom floor behind Mariku. "Have you taken your medication today, Mariku?" Rishid asked, hoping that Mariku hadn't tried experimenting with how long he could go without medication or something like that.

"I have", Mariku said, voice shivering. "But... so much happened today. It... became too much. Even the medication didn't stop the mania... I barely remember any details from today." He looked into Rishid's eyes, and Rishid got the feeling that his brother had aged several years since this morning. Rishid immediately felt very guilty.

"I'm sorry, Mariku. I should have told you about the Millennium Items and everything earlier. I just didn't want to worry you. You have enough problems as it is, with your illness and with your school life..." He hoped that Mariku wouldn't be angry at him. The Khayal brothers had always had such a simple, happy relationship, despite Mariku's flexible temper. Rishid didn't really know how to handle it if Mariku became mad at him. But Mariku just nodded.

"I understand. It's okay, Rishid." He didn't say anything more; instead he just remained standing in front of Rishid, looking like he still wanted to say something but didn't know how to start. Rishid wasn't a very talkative person himself, so the two brothers just stood still for a while, looking at each other. Then Mariku interrupted the silence. "...Rishid?"

"Yes?" Rishid looked into Mariku's eyes, and for a few seconds Mariku wasn't the bossy and wild seventeen-year-old Rishid was used to, but instead he reminded Rishid of his five year old self; always looking for recognition from his bigger brother, even if that meant leaving his parents and following Rishid to a country on the other side of the planet.

"...I think I need a hug", Mariku whispered, sounding so sad, so dejected. Rishid smiled and fulfilled Mariku's request.

If only he had known about the Millennium Rod, currently hidden in the bathroom cabinet, and the blood that had recently covered Mariku's hands.

–

"You could have told me", Bakura said, sounding very angry. Pegasus placed the last of the dishes into the dishwasher and looked up to meet his adopted son's glaring eyes. "Why have you been hiding everything from me? You're involved with some strange Ancient Egyptian items which an Egyptian sect wants to take from you, not to mention that you INVENTED Duel Monsters, the game my friends and I have been playing for YEARS, and now it turns out to be MAGICAL!"

"Bakura, I never meant to get you involved", Pegasus admitted. He wished that he had been given a chance to explain himself, but no, instead Bakura and his friends had disappeared in the middle of the school day, and Pegasus had come home to find a very angry Bakura sitting in the kitchen waiting for him. "Cyndia never wanted to get involved either. She kept insisting, even on her deathbed, that I should not tell you... I was just trying to grant her last request."

"I... You... That's..." Bakura spluttered, seeming to have lost even the ability to speak coherently in his fury. "Why is it always about her?! I mean..." He took a deep breath, attempting to calm down. "I mean... I know you loved her. I know you still do. I may not remember her very well, but I still understand. However..." He glared at Pegasus. "...that does not give you an excuse to ignore how I feel about this... I wanted to hear this from you. Not from Gozaburo Kaiba."

"I understand that, Bakura", Pegasus replied. Bakura was being unusually mature about this disagreement. That was definitely a good sign. "I apologise for not telling you about this." He held out his hand for Bakura to shake. "All right?" Bakura glared at Pegasus's hand, but took it and shook it.

"All right." His lips then lit up with a wild grin. "Now then... You invented Duel Monsters. How good are you?"

"The best, of course", Pegasus said, a bit taken aback with the sudden change of subject. "No one has ever beaten me."

"Was that a challenge?" Bakura asked, pulling two Duel Monsters decks out of his pocket. "I ransacked your bedroom drawer and found a deck. Your old one, I presume?" He sat down at the kitchen table, placing the decks on opposite sides of the table. "I challenge you to a duel, Pegasus J. Crawford." Pegasus was about to scold his son for showing no respect for his privacy, but decided that it could wait for now. He sat down at the opposite side of the table, smiling as he picked up his Duel Monsters deck from the table and started shuffling it.

"I accept your challenge, Bakura Crawford", he replied calmly. "But beware; the strategy in my deck is perfect. I won't go easy on you."

"Never said you should", Bakura said confidently.

Pegasus was so happy that this had happened. It had been a long time since he had spent quality time with Bakura, and even doing such a silly thing as playing a card game with his son made him feel like the two of them were getting closer for the first time in years. Bakura had steadily started slipping away from Pegasus, but now, as Bakura laughed wildly every time he got the upper hand in the game, Pegasus felt that perhaps their bond was not completely lost.

Not to mention that the feeling you got from beating your son at Duel Monsters was one of the most satisfying feelings in the world.

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A/N: As you can see, the character I was talking about in the last chapter's Author's Note was Mariku. In case any of you are concerned: no, he hasn't completely flipped out. That insanity was something temporary, triggered by the shock of seeing Malik get hurt and knowing that it was Mr Ishtar who hurt him. Mariku can't control himself AT ALL when he's upset, and having an unstable mind doesn't help. And Mariku did really kill Mr Ishtar. It wasn't a hallucination. It's going to come back and haunt him later, for sure... That ghost that looked like Malik… I'll let you determine that one for yourself.

Writing scenes from the point of view of a character who isn't thinking straight is damn hard. I didn't realise how difficult it would be before I actually tried. I tried to make it so that one doesn't see exactly what's going on, but so that it's not too confusing to decipher what is happening outside Mariku's mind. The bolded and underlined text is to show the mania taking control of Mariku completely, and the normal lines in between are... what's actually going on. Or something like that.

On a side note, I finally wrote some interaction between Mariku and Rishid when they're alone together. I think it's the only scene in the fic where the two of them interact without anybody else around, and that's really sad because I think they're rather sweet. Judging from what I wrote, I'd say they don't usually act very emotional around each other, but when they really need it, they're there for each other. And they're both fiercely loyal, too.

The scene between Pegasus and Bakura was nice to write too. It felt good to write something happier after all that stuff with Mariku. It's hinted that Pegasus has had a really hard time letting go of Cyndia after her death (just like in canon) and only wanted Bakura to have a peaceful life. (Allow me to laugh evilly as I think about the events in future chapters… ^^) While Bakura is basically just pissed off because he doesn't like when people hide important things from him. But in the end they settle their differences in a Duel Monsters game. Which Pegasus wins, of course. It's a pity we never got to see Yami Bakura and Pegasus duel in canon. That would have been interesting, I wonder who would have won?


	15. The Ishtar Problem

Funny how life works out. I came on here last week, feeling like the world was really just trying to ruin my life, but posted a chapter anyway. The next day, Finland (my home country, btw) legalises gay marriage. It cheered me up a lot. I think the universe is trying to tell me to keep posting fanfics. XD Anyway, on a more cheerful note, hope you enjoy and leave a review if you like!

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**Chapter 15 – The Ishtar Problem**

The doorbell rang. Rishid sighed, placing the toast he had been in the middle of eating back onto the kitchen table.

"Mariku, go open the door." No answer. Mariku was still asleep, then. Not surprising. It was Saturday, after all. The school week had passed on as normal after Mariku had come home completely shocked on Monday evening. Everyone except Malik, who still had to stay at the Kaiba mansion until his injuries healed, went back to school as normal. The cover story was that Malik had been in an accident and was now in a hospital. They hadn't heard anything from Mr Ishtar either, which Rishid found very suspicious. Especially considering Mariku's strange behaviour over the last few days... The doorbell rang again. Rishid got to his feet, his train of thoughts lost, and went to open the door. He was surprised by who stood outside.

"Hello", Malik Ishtar greeted awkwardly. He was standing outside the door, wearing his school uniform (at least the blood had been washed away), looking like he didn't know quite what to do.

"Hello", Rishid replied, attempting to hide his surprise. "So... You're feeling better, I presume?" Malik grimaced.

"It still hurts, but at least I can move around now", he replied. He eyed Rishid carefully. "I was wondering... Gozaburo Kaiba clearly doesn't want me in his house. I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at me. I can't go back home, either." He looked directly into Rishid's eyes, his gaze pleading. "Could I stay here? Then I'll be safe from my father, and out of Gozaburo's sight." Rishid was surprised by Malik's request, and thought about it. He and Mariku lived alone in this apartment, which held two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. There should be room for one more person, and they didn't have to worry about the money because Gozaburo paid their rent. And there really were only two places for Malik to choose from: Pegasus's home or Rishid's.

"I don't see why not", Rishid replied. Sure, Pegasus's home was bigger, but maybe Malik just sought out fellow Egyptians? Malik smiled widely.

"Thank you. I will be eternally grateful", he replied. Rishid stepped back to let Malik come inside.

"No need to thank me. After all, you brought us the Sun Dragon Ra." They walked into the kitchen. The half-eaten toast still lay on the table. "Do you want breakfast?" Rishid asked politely, glancing at Malik.

"No thanks. I'm not hungry", Malik said, gazing around. "Where's Mariku?"

"Still asleep. That's Mariku for you. Why don't you go wake him up? I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."

–

"Mmh... Not yet, Rishid..." Mariku mumbled as he felt someone attempting to shake him awake. "I want to sleep..." He buried his head deeper into his pillow, ignoring the attempt completely. No way he was getting up. Perhaps he could just sleep for the rest of the day. That would be nice...

"Okay, you asked for it", a voice that was clearly not Rishid stated, and with that, Mariku was splashed with ice-cold water. He was wide awake in an instant.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT THE HELL, RISHID?!" he screamed and sat up in the bed, feeling the cold water everywhere; in his hair, in his bed, on his skin (Cold, cold, cold!) even under his clothes. What a horrible way to wake up. He heard someone chuckle, and looked up. Malik was standing next to his bed, a watering can in his hand and a smirk on his face. For a second, Mariku thought that the strange ghostly Malik lookalike from Monday evening had returned, but quickly realised that it was just the ordinary Malik. Mariku felt a bit worried as he remembered what had occurred on Monday evening, but he tried not to think about it. He had to focus in front of Malik. "Um... Hello, Malik."

"Hello", Malik said, grinning.

"What are you doing here?" Mariku asked in surprise, staring at him. Malik sat down on the bed beside him.

"Well... I'm moving in with you and Rishid, actually", Malik replied, his smile becoming a little bit more unsure. Mariku felt his blood run cold. He had moved the Millennium Rod from the bathroom cabinet and hidden it deep within his closet so that Rishid wouldn't find it and start asking questions. If Malik moved in with them, there was a risk that the Rod would be found. Malik didn't know about his father's death yet, and Mariku definitely had to avoid all risks of being discovered. He regretted it so badly; killing Malik's father was causing him lots of trouble even after the initial nausea of having killed another human. He had to hide it. He couldn't let anyone know. They'd never forgive him.

"Really?" Mariku said, forcing a smile. "That's... That's wonderful!" Malik smiled, not seeming to notice Mariku's uneasiness.

–

"I play the Black Magician in Attack Mode!"

"That's useless, cousin! My Blue-Eyes White Dragon has more Attack Points than your Black Magician! My Blue-Eyes White Dragon attacks your Magician, you lose your last 500 life points, and I win!"

"Not so fast, Seto! I activate my trap card, Magic Cylinder!"

"What?!"

"The Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack is reflected back at you! Seems like I'M the one who won this game, Seto!"

"What?! No way!" Seto slammed his cards down onto the table and glared at Atemu furiously. "Just you wait, Atemu. Next time, I will beat you!" Atemu smirked confidently.

"I highly doubt that, Seto. Just admit it; I'm better at Duel Monsters than you!"

"I will NEVER admit that!" Seto shouted angrily. The door opened, and Yuugi walked in. Seto and Atemu looked up at him in surprise, even though finding Yuugi in his own grandfather's game shop shouldn't really be very unexpected.

"Hi! What's going on here?" Yuugi asked curiously. Atemu smirked.

"Me kicking Seto's ass at Duel Monsters, that's what", he replied. Seto glared at him. "How are things going with your grandpa?" Uncle Gozaburo and Atemu's mother had decided to have a talk with Yuugi's grandfather after they had been made aware of the Millennium Puzzle. They wanted to know where exactly Sugoroku Mutou had got the item from and if he was aware of its dark powers. Originally, they had intended to go alone, but Atemu had decided to visit Yuugi, and Seto wanted to check out the game shop as he was once again on the hunt for new Duel Monsters cards to beat Atemu with.

"Apparently he did know about the Millennium Items, to my surprise", Yuugi said. "He won the Puzzle in a gamble with some shady guy years back. He made lots of research about it and discovered everything we were told yesterday. And do you know what? He actually started this game shop to sell Duel Monsters cards, because he noticed that they were filled with Shadow Magic just like the Puzzle! He uses this shop as a cover! If someone notices suspicious amounts of Shadow Magic coming from this place, they'll just have to assume that it's the cards!"

"That's really clever", Seto stated, sounding rather impressed. "That way, no thieves will be able to find it as long as it's kept in the shop!"

"So that's why your grandfather was really worried when you had borrowed me the Puzzle?" Atemu asked. Yuugi nodded.

"Yes... He was really cross with me for taking it without permission... He said that I put us in great danger by doing that..." Yuugi looked ashamed of himself.

"In that case..." Seto was thinking out loud. "Our family has the Millennium Eye. Rishid is responsible for the Millennium Scale. Your grandfather, I assume, will be in an alliance with us and protect the Millennium Puzzle. That's three items down. And Mr Ishtar has the Millennium Rod... That's four down. We only need to find the last three." Atemu suddenly recalled something. Something very surprising.

"The Egyptian man I met that evening... He wanted to play a Shadow Game with me... and he had this golden item which he called 'the Key', I think... Seto, is there a Millennium Key?" Seto stared at Atemu in surprise.

"We don't know all the Millennium Items by name, but... Yes. I think that could be true. The Eye, the Scale, the Puzzle, the Rod and the Key. That's five down. Only two left. We just need to get our hands on Mr Ishtar's and that strange man's items."

"And what will we do if we succeed?" Yuugi asked. "If we gather all the seven Millennium Items... what will we do with them?" Seto's face became grim.

"We'll protect them so that no one will use their powers for their own malicious intents."

–

Ryou shifted on his chair as he sketched on the paper absently. So many things had happened over the last week. First, Saturday evening, the most wonderful evening in his life. Then, with Sunday, reality had returned. His mother and Amane had barely spoken to him since that. His mother had just given him occasional sad looks, while Amane had simply been giving him disgusted looks every now and then. Then, there had been Monday, with all its shocking revelations. Magic was real. It still felt strange, even after a whole school week of thinking about it. Ryou didn't know if he should believe it or not.

He looked down at the paper on which he had been sketching. A sketch of a face greeted him. A face that he didn't recognise; the face of a man who looked a bit like Bakura, only he was tan and had a big scar on his right cheek. He seemed familiar, somehow. Ryou wondered if his subconscious was playing tricks on him. He sighed at the thought of Bakura. He had been so upset over the fact that Pegasus had lied to him, but the two of them had made up so quickly... Ryou was jealous of Bakura, even if he refused to admit it. Pegasus had accepted it all so easily. (Then again, he was American. Perhaps Americans were more open-minded than Japanese people?) Would Ryou's mother and sister ever accept his choice? Ryou shifted on his chair again as he stared out of the window. It was raining outside. Right now, Ryou really just wanted to talk to someone. Or even better, to hug someone. Perhaps he should call Bakura. He decided against it, and continued sketching, giving the man a long coat, like the one Bakura wore to the Halloween party...

"...Do you have any pencils?" an annoyed voice asked from behind him. Ryou turned around and found Amane standing in the doorway, looking like she was very unwilling to talk to him. "I can't find any in the whole house, and you draw things, so... give me the pencil."

"I'm using it", Ryou replied coldly and turned back to his drawing. Amane was talking to him because of a pencil? Well, he had no intentions of talking to her. Ryou didn't seem like one to hold grudges, and he really wasn't, but once he was angry over something he didn't forgive easily. Otogi was just one example of that. Amane made an insulted sound.

"Fine. Then don't." She turned around and was about to leave, but Ryou still heard her muttering her next words under her breath. "Fuck you."

"Excuse me?!" Ryou leapt to his feet and turned to face his sister. "What was that?!" Amane turned around too, and stared into Ryou's eyes.

"I said: fuck you", she replied coolly. "Face it. You're a disgusting little sissy, Ryou. You could get together with pretty much any girl you wanted because you're 'so cute', according to my friends, but instead you have to go with a boy! And not just any boy, but Bakura Crawford! How dare you?! You KNEW I liked him! And you still had to steal him! I was going to ask him at the Halloween party! I!" Amane sounded calm at first, but as she spoke on, her voice became more and more angry. Ryou felt hurt by what Amane was saying to him, but he was in a bad mood and having someone attack him verbally when he was in a bad mood was never a good thing.

"Well, none of those girls you're talking about ever asked me out", Ryou replied calmly, yet venomously. "And to be honest, I wouldn't have wanted to date any of them either way because I'm not into girls. I've never been. You've just never noticed because you've never bothered asking. You just talk on and on about all the boys you like, and not once have YOU asked ME if I liked someone!"

"Well, since you never talked about it I just assumed you were too stuck playing those stupid games of yours to ever be able to have proper social interaction with people!" Amane yelled, clearly about to lose her temper completely. That had been a mistake. If Amane was bringing other things into this argument, Ryou wouldn't hesitate to do the same.

"At least I actually have a hobby, unlike you! You spend all your time whining about all the boys you want to date and how you wish you weren't a virgin!" Ryou yelled back.

"It's not like you're any better!" Amane screamed. "YOU will certainly never get laid!" And there she made another mistake.

"And that's where you're wrong", Ryou retorted, feeling very satisfied by the look on her face. "I'm not a virgin." She blinked and narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "I spent Saturday night at Bakura's, but you probably didn't realise what that could mean, did you?" Amane's eyes widened in shock and horror. It would have been comical, if not for the current situation.

"You've... slept with him?!"

"Yes, I have", Ryou said calmly and sat down on his chair again, knowing that he had won this fight. "And just so you know, you shouldn't blame me for this. It was Bakura who asked me out, and not the other way around." Amane stared at him in shock.

"You're lying!" she hissed, still looking furious. "I don't believe you! He... Crawford wouldn't... He'd NEVER date another boy! He's just messing with you! Yeah! He's just doing this for fun!" She sounded more like she was trying to convince herself at that point, but Ryou still felt a cold wave of uncertainty go down his spine. What if... No, he told himself. Bakura would never do that.

"I highly doubt that, sis", Ryou replied coldly and glared at Amane. "Now get out of my room." Amane gave him one last furious glance before storming out of his room. Ryou grabbed his mobile phone from the desk, got to his feet and threw himself onto his bed. He then searched through the phone for Bakura's number. He just had to hear Bakura's voice. To convince himself. It didn't take Bakura long to pick up.

"_Hi, Ryou. Is everything okay?" _Bakura sounded concerned. Ryou wondered what he should tell Bakura. He hadn't thought this through at all.

"Mmh. Amane and I just got into a fight, that's all", he replied, sounding more sad than he had intended. Bakura remained silent for a while after that.

"_...I'm sorry that she had to react like this"_, the reply finally came. "_...Do you... want to break up?"_ Bakura sounded so disappointed.

"That's not what I meant!" Ryou almost shouted into the phone. "Wait... Do you?" His voice was almost shaking by now; he couldn't give up on Bakura. Not now. Not after all that had happened in the last week.

"_No! Definitely not!" _Bakura protested fiercely. _"This... This __means way too much to me for that. God, I'm such a coward... I'm sorry, Ryou. I don't want to give up on this. Not now... and not ever. Okay?"_ Ryou had to smile despite the situation. Even though Bakura's words were confident, a nervous side of him was peeking through...

"Of course. Thanks, Bakura", Ryou replied, feeling a bit happier already. "I think I'll go to bed now. It's getting late anyway. Good night!"

"_Good night." _Bakura quit the call. Ryou lay down on his bed, not bothering to change into his pyjamas. He felt strange, somehow. Lonely. He knew he had Bakura, but Amane's words still stung. He felt something wet in the corners of his eyes. Amane was his sister. Why had they stopped getting along? Was it all Ryou's fault? Would there, in the future, come a day when he would have to choose between his family and his boyfriend?

As Ryou lay in bed that night, sleepless, he thought of many things. Especially one of these thoughts frustrated him to no end.

Why did he feel like he had missed something about Bakura?

* * *

A/N: And so we get back to chapters where not much action really happens, but instead I get to developing my characters a bit. I seem to like doing that, because I've noticed that I do it a lot. I don't know. I just like working with these characters.

Anyway! Malik moves in with the Khayal siblings! What did you think, that I was going to make him go back to his father after all that? I'm not THAT cruel. (Of course, Mr Ishtar is now dead, but they don't know that, do they?) Living with Rishid and Mariku just felt fitting for him. Gozaburo dislikes him (funny how my characters always seem to create some of their character traits on their own…) so he doesn't want to stay there, and he's actually very close to Mariku despite the complications in their relationship. And Mariku... he's in a bit of trouble now, isn't he?

The only real game of Duel Monsters in this story (or at least a part of it) also appears. The rest are just Shadow Games or off-screen, so… of course I had to make it Atemu and Seto playing. I love writing that playful banter of theirs. The Puzzleshipping side to this story, almost non-existent as it is, just keeps overshadowed by the card-game-playing cousins, though… Dammit Seto, you cock-blocking jerk! Why do you keep getting in the way of my Puzzleshipping? _ Well, anyway, the Millennium Items' role in this is still unclear, which is kind of the point. Not going to spoil, though! ^^

Then there's the Shiromune sibling argument. Writing that scene was kind of interesting, but it also hit me kind of close to home in an unpleasant way. I imagine Ryou and Amane being really close before moving to Domino, but now something has changed and Amane's jealousy is getting the better of her… Not that Ryou is all that nice to her, either. When someone insults you, I wouldn't say that the best idea is to insult the person back. Ryou isn't very nice either… Ugh. With this scene, I just wanted to make it clear that when I write Ryou, he's NOT the most innocent, sweet and caring person on the planet like lots of people make him out to be. He's nice most of the time, but when someone bites, he bites back with even more force (as you may have noticed with Otogi already). Well, Amane had it coming, I guess. It also adds a darker twist to Bakura's and Ryou's relationship as they begin to realise that not everyone wants them to be a happy couple.


End file.
